


Soul Sky

by WriterSky20



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Accidental Dimension Travel, Dying Will Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Food Shortages, Grandfather for One, I know nothing about romance so we'll see how this goes, Izuku has Dying Will Flames, Kidnapping, M/M, Midoriya Izuku Has One for All Quirk, Not Beta Read, Sensei | All For One is Midoriya Hisashi's Parent, Sensei | All For One is Not Midoriya Hisashi, Soulmates by Accident/Choice, Stuck in Another Dimension for many years
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 101,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23545135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterSky20/pseuds/WriterSky20
Summary: 8-year-old Izuku expected many things when he left his house for school. Getting kidnapped by some Villains, ending up in another universe, getting a fellow 8-year-old kidnapped, being tortured while on a train, ending up with a mental bond with the fellow kidnappee, escaping, and then being stuck living in this other world until his new friend's dad's work can build a machine to send him back to his own world is not what he expected! Gaining a mysterious power which apparently can only be activated in life-or-death situations (that is if you have regrets and want to live...) is just the tip-of-the-iceberg.Even though Izuku now has a friend from the experience and this world is very interesting, he would like to go home and get back to trying to become a Hero now.Wait, what do you mean Tsuna might possibly be my Soulmate thanks to what our Flames had done to protect us?!
Relationships: Class 1-A & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Sawada Tsunayoshi, Midoriya Izuku/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Sawada Tsunayoshi & Vongola Tenth Generation Guardians
Comments: 91
Kudos: 391
Collections: midoriya has abilities/powers that aren't quirks





	1. New Friends, Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a screenwriter so if the formatting is weird or if I'm holding too much information back (like there's more action then explanations) then me being a screenwriter in training and already use to writing scripts is probably why. That's my only warning to y'all.

Running.

He doesn’t know how long he has been running. Doesn’t even remember how he got to the path he’s following now.

But…

The boy adjusted his cargo who lays on his back. Puffs of pained breath the only reassurance he has that the green-haired boy is still alive.

_We can’t go back._

Stings of pain from his side reminds him that he is injured as well. He ignores it, noticing that the path is thinning out and the forest is changing into a town.

He smiles, breathless.

_Home!_

Coughing drags his attention once more to his cargo. A moan of pain sounds.

 _“Ku, biri! Home!”_ He trills. _Ku, live! We’re almost to my home._

 _“B- Biri,”_ the freckled boy returns. _I live._ He tightens his grip on his torn shirt then relaxes it.

Ku straightens, a hiss escaping his lips as the pain from his back protests the movement. More blood flows from his back.

His running companion starts slowing down, recognizing Ku’s silent request to be put down. He stops and bends down. Ku gently goes down.

They both stumble from the sudden weight change and catch each other. Ku’s brown-haired companion goes down on one knee, crying out. The wound on his side has reddened his entire left side. Ku frowns worriedly and, fighting through the pain on his own back, switches to his friend’s right side.

The 8-year-old is breathing heavily.

He internally nudges his friend and inquires, _“You said we’re almost to safety. This is your hometown? You need to hold on, ic rel taina gro vonrol, Na.”_ Reaching for home with dying will, Na.

Na snaps back, glaring, _“I know. Ic rel ai eva qi gro vonrol.”_ And in return, reaching for truth and justice with dying will. _“Let me catch my breath.”_

They both could sense that the danger is gone due to their combined attack and his minions can’t reach them here in Na’s hometown.

Both of them are sweating, bloodied, have dirt, mud, and sand everywhere. Both of them are trembling, adrenaline the only thing keeping them going. But with the danger gone, the adrenaline is leaving them. So they held on with all their might and leftover strength to the idea of getting to Na’s home and his mother. They have coined her and the house as the place of safety and they will reach it. They have to.

Na sucks in a breath and gets up with Ku’s help. Ku throws Na’s arm around his shoulder and grips the part of his side Ku knows wasn’t injured. Ku’s right leg spasms, splintered and only held in place with two wooden planks and makeshift bandages. Ku flinches, then switches to using his left leg as forward support while drag-lifting the right leg into moving. Na follows his example.

They move forward one step at a time. Na directs them with mental nudges, a mental map of his hometown Namimori painting itself in his mind’s eye to help him quickly figure out where in the town they are and the quickest way to his house from that way.

Their minds connected, they follow the path arrows Ku’s analytical mind and Na’s instincts had created to help them get home and medical attention.

 _“Sleep. When we get home, I’m going to sleep for a long time.”_ Na murmurs through their bond.

Ku mentally snickers then replies, _“Yeah, and I’ll be eating a lifetime supply of katsudon. Then I’m going home to see my kaa-san and become a hero.”_

Na probably would’ve felt a flash of sadness at the idea of losing the only friend he’s ever had except he’s too tired and injured to really react to Ku’s statement. He sighs, _“Tem i ce bav ut emma’ho vivi lago rerel tsi.”_ Stopping a villain at the age of 8 should automatically make you a hero.

Ku mentally shrugs and shows Na an image of somebody getting arrested then a judge slamming a gravel, then somebody using a fire quirk. Na mentally rolls his eyes as they cross through an alleyway, and responds with an image of somebody attacking another and that other person responding by pushing them away with a wind blast. An impression of self-defense is inquired with the mental equivalent of raised eyebrow that Na would have actually raised on his face if he wasn’t focused on walking. Ku concedes then responses with a grumbled _“Villain could’ve tricked the scene or jury to look like they were the ones who were attacked and it wasn’t an act of self-defense.”_ Na just mentally shakes his head, a sense of exasperation at Ku’s world the only emotion Na gives other than the tiredness and pain already radiating from him.

They keep walking, each step getting harder to do but Na’s intuition and both of their Wills pushing them through the pain until they get to what Na’s Will coins as Safe and Ku’s Will follows due to this not being Ku’s world.

They turn a corner and walk down a street familiar to Na, even though the street is surrounded by foreign men in black suits and fancy cars. The two 8-year-old friends keeping walking, Ku keeping an eye on the men and Na focused on getting home, his intuition telling him these men won’t attack and are in fact actually happy to see him though confused by the appearance of his friend.

Two of the men in black suits go inside one of the resident homes. One starts talking on his phone, calling for medics. Others approach, trying to get them to stop walking, to rest. Ku responses by curling closer to Na while Na curtly glares at them and keeps walking to the house the two men in black suits have entered.

Three figures quickly walk out of the house. The two look up as they stop in the front yard. Nana Sawada, _kaa-san_ Na purrs happily to Ku, gasps and runs quickly to the two friends, yelling “TSUNA-KUN!” Iemitsu Sawada, _your tou-san?_ Ku inquires and Na grudgingly agrees knowing his mom would be happy that the old man was here, stops for a moment, _shocked, happy you’re here and alive, doesn’t know how to act for he was gone_ Na’s intuition whispers to him. Nana drops down and carefully embraces Na and Ku, recognizing that both were attached to each other and both were tired and injured but would still like an embrace.

Iemitsu shakily steps forward then joins Nana, kneeling down as well and simply curling a hand around the back of Na’s head. Na and Ku collapse into the embrace, Ku passes out immediately, energy spent. Na manages to hold on long enough to whisper hoarsely using a voice he had not used in weeks, maybe months, “Ku is a victim as well. Kidnappers’ original target. From an alternate universe. Friend. Safe.” Then he joins Ku in the realm of dreams.

Iemitsu looks at his boss, Timoteo di Vongola, who had joined their little circle in time to hear Na’s words as Timoteo and Iemitsu’s Sun Guardians take Ku and Na from Nana’s and his arms and get to work on healing their injuries. Timoteo frowns and looks at the green-haired boy. Nana keeps her eyes on both boys as she tells them, “Tsu-kun trusts the boy.”

She looks determinedly at the two men, “Then I will trust Tsu-kun’s friend. He’s from another universe? He was the original target? Then he needs our help to get home and to learn self-defense right alongside Tsu-kun. And Tsuna will be learning _at least_ self-defense; this happened because I and you, Iemitsu, refused to teach him _something_ so that he could defense himself and possibly others if others are involved. Enough.”

As the two men stare in surprise and terror at this woman who is now standing, arms crossed, towering over them, she finishes her rant with a simple “Anybody else touches my child or his friend and they will learn exactly why I used to be known as the Bloody Hound of Namimori.” Iemitsu and his Sun Guardian (Isaac Namaki, who is still focused on healing Ku but still heard Nana) immediately shivered, cold seeping into their very bones as they remembered the Wednesday Festival Massacre that Nana, his Mist, had caused in response to her first child (an orphan she had baby- sat and claimed as her own) dying in a car accident which could have been avoided had the driver not been texting. Timoteo and the rest of the Vongola and CEDEF members in the area now completely understand why Iemitsu had dropped everything and gone back to Namimori the moment he discovered Nana was calling him from his work phone. You just don’t mess with a Mist or a Sky when the people they’ve claimed as family gets hurt.

Nana turns back to watching the Suns heal Na – Tsuna - and Ku, more medics have arrived and are now helping them with the parts the Sun Flames can’t heal.

A soft wind blows outside as clouds drift slowly through the night, briefly covering the stars peculiarly shining brightly even through the light pollution. Moonlight shines through the clouds which briefly cover it.

In the hospital room, 8-year-old Midoriya Izuku – coined Ku by Sawada Tsunayoshi for their safety – lays in bed, breathing tubes in his nose, bandages wrapped around his forehead, a white bandage slate on his left cheek. He is clean now, wires crossing and laying all over his body. IV line is attached to his right arm along side a blood transfusion line. He would have been laying on his stomach to not agitate his back wounds if his right leg hadn’t been in a cast and prepped up with a pillow at the end of his bed.

Curled as best as he could into his left side while avoiding wires and agitating his own left side is Sawada Tsunayoshi, fast asleep, arm clutching Izuku’s hospital gown and head on the pillow next to Izuku. Izuku’s own head is curled towards Tsuna, right arm holding the top of the hand clutching his shirt. Two blankets covering them, a handknitted soft blanket covering them up to their necks and the hospital blankets covering them up to their waist.

The two are smiling in their sleep.

Sawada Iemitsu sat, watching over them by the window as he contemplates everything Tsuna’s told them once he was lucid and calm enough to answer questions.

A mental bond.

Developed completely by accident by two forcibly awakened Skies in a traumatic experience who didn’t want to see the only other person with them in the event die.

Two forcibly awakened Skies. One who would have never awakened his power because of the Hero Society his world is built on and because of the existence of ‘Quirks’, many designed specifically for the holder’s survival or advantage of survival. The other Sky who, Sealed, would’ve suffered under not being able to access his Will, bullied and believing he is useless until something came around which helped him slowly break at his Seal and get used to his Flames until he can control them.

Now, the one from another world has access to a power once denied from him (“People like him without powers in his world are called Quirkless, tou-san. They’re less than 20% of _the world’s_ population. He’s like me in that sense, bullied for not having, or not understanding in my case, something everybody else does have.”), and his own son has his Will once taken from him back (“Ku – Izuku gave me back the strength and resolve to fight back. Made me realize that I didn’t have to take this. So, watching Izuku fighting for his life even though he knew he didn’t have the powers common in his world to fight off people from his world… Something in me snapped. I only felt this warmth and protective fury rising up and flooding me in response, then I struck back. We made our escape while the criminals, people Izuku’s world called Villains, had been transferring us – on a train. We blew up a Villain-run train, dad, it was awesome.”).

Iemitsu shifted his gaze to the green-haired boy Tsuna claims as his friend (Iemitsu can see the signs of that friendship being caused because of a Soulmate bond – possibly formed by each other’s Flames in response to being tortured by a ‘Villain’ – man, that’s a weird thought – with a mental Quirk to keep each other sane?... Maybe. _Circumstances are a deadly double-edged sword_ , Iemitsu’s intuition whispered.)

Heroes and Villains.

A superpowered society where even the Average Joe has a unique power even if it’s something as simple as being a body heater.

Cultures sculpted and based on this Hero Society where, according to Midoriya, any hint as to having ‘weak’ powers or not having any powers can and will lead to immediate ostracization and isolation and abuse. “Nobody wants to be Quirkless in my world. Calling somebody Quirkless or saying they should have been born Quirkless instead is like cursing somebody for life, damning them to a life of isolation. People don’t care though. You have to have a quirk registered, it’s illegal not to,” the kid had said when he was awake.

Iemitsu frowns as he thinks back to that conversation. _It’s like the Mafia with illegitimate children and children who end up in the Mafia because circumstances stopped them from going anywhere else. Except ten times worse. At least those children can mingle in and pretend to be a normal kid in society outside of the Mafia. The Quirkless of that world don’t have that pleasure. Everywhere they go, it’s marked on them like a slave mark. It’s on their papers, on their inability to defend themselves against anybody who attacks them, on getting scolding for trying to defend themselves or learning to defend themselves because it’s illegal to use your Quirk, but they don’t have a Quirk, only weapons and their bodies. The hell are they supposed to do, let their assailant kill them?... 1-5 minutes. That’s all anybody, especially a criminal with powers, needs to kill somebody, escape, and get away with it. And according to Midoriya, that’s the average reaction time of a hero to response to a call for help, especially if there are hardly any heroes patrolling the area where the crime took place._

Iemitsu looks out the window and stares at the moon as he sighs.

“It’s all kinds of messed up, not to mention the Sandstorm which is most certainly coming our way in response to Midoriya coming here,” he mutters. A well of protective fury and his Will rises up inside of him in response, roaring like a desert storm.

 _Let them come!_ It roars, Iemitsu’s eyes flashes orange, _we will remind them all of the Desert Dragon, the Fierce Sandstorm they once called us. No chains can keep us tame for long!_

“No chains can tie down a Sandstorm,” he murmurs, orange and amber eyes burning as he turns back to the two injured children on the bed.

 _Quiet, before our Will starts to envelope the entire hospital,_ his intuition tsks, _Now is not the time for a lecture from The-One-Marked-King._

Iemitsu closes his eyes and focuses on his mind.

His Will churns like a pacing dragon one more time before it settles and allows Iemitsu to bury it once more in the sand acting as his mindscape. Iemitsu breathes in and out, layering and smoothing out the sand until his Flames have once more settled into the ember-like setting he had them laying in.

He opens his eyes, brown once more reflecting through.

He is calm.

Iemitsu looks down to see that his left hand is tightly gripping the armrest. He blinks in confusion, not remembering even gripping the armrest. He releases it, moves his palm up to see red skin, and notices that the armrest is partially melted and bent.

He checks his right arm to see that he did the same thing. “Ah.”

Iemitsu’s ears and cheeks burn red, “Oops.”

Somewhere in Namimori (and the world), his Guardians are suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to laugh at their Sky without knowing why.

A couple of weeks have passed since Tsuna and Izuku had been hospitalized. In that time, Iemitsu and Nana stayed in the hospital reteaching both of them how to speak and interact without projecting into their minds as well as how to speak complete sentences and re-speak Japanese properly the way they did before their Kidnapping. In that time, Iemitsu asked Vongola if they could invent or figure out a way to get Izuku back to his own dimension. The scientists had shaken their heads and replied, “Not with today’s technology. We either need more inventors and engineers or wait for our technology to develop more than it already is.” Iemitsu was not happy about being the one stuck with telling Izuku that they couldn’t send him home right now. Lucky for him, Izuku was completely understanding about it and, though he was upset about having to leave his mother behind, accepted the fact that he might not be home for a long time. “Just make sure that I get home a few months before my year’s UA entrance exam. That way, I can catch up on school work, graduate junior high, and readjust to being home and in my own dimension without raising unneccesary suspicion from the staff. It would be a pain to have to explain to Yuei that I hadn’t been in my universe for many years and am simply adjusting to being back.” Everybody had agreed that condition. It would be best to keep this under wraps, so Izuku would need those extra few months (Maybe even one extra year) before his attempt at joining UA to adjust to being home on top of catching up to his universe’s version of school. When asked, Tsuna was the one to explain, “Obviously, K- Izuku is going to continue his schooling while he’s stuck here. However, he is from a different universe, there’s gonna be differences in history, politics, performing arts like movies and tv shows and theatre and music, culture – like our world doesn’t have a thing called Hero Society, heroes for us are ordinary people who did heroic acts like getting somebody down from a tree, cleaning up the park, even our language like dialects, metaphors, and cultural references incorporated into our everyday speech. When Izuku gets home, he’s gonna have to relearn almost everything that he would’ve learned from the ages of 8-about 14. Hopefully, he’ll be home by then.” They would’ve been surprised at Tsuna’s analytical response given his status as Dame-Tsuna, however they’ve interacted with Izuku. With their mental bond in place and having spent weeks in each other’s company, Tsuna’s probably picked up on some of Izuku’s analytical and deductive ability. There’s also the fact that they came up with a secret code to speak in with each other through their bond so that A. the other villains won’t be able to tell they are planning how to escape and B. so that the mental-quirk Villain won’t know what they’re saying or tell that they’re talking to each other.   
Once they got discharged from the hospital, Izuku, under Nana’s, Tsuna’s, and even Iemitsu’s insistence, went to live with them for the unforeseeable future – at least until the scientists are able to create a way to send him home. Izuku got enrolled into the same school as Tsuna once Nana, Iemitsu, and Tsuna got him caught up with the way things work in this world; Tsuna (with Izuku’s help) also got caught up with the work he missed. He also raised his grades up from Fs to Ds for Nana promised that if he does that, then Izuku can join his class. Then, with Izuku’s tutoring (having a mental bond and thus able to help Tsuna get around the parts of the Seal that haven’t broken off yet really helps in regards to getting Tsuna to understand the material), he was able to raise his Ds to Cs. The two are working on getting those Cs to go to Bs right now. Nana kept her promise and pressured the school under threat of exposing their allowance of bullying into letting Izuku get into the same class as Tsuna. Mysteriously the bullies themselves have stopped attacking Tsuna – they still insult him but they do it from a distance -. Tsuna asked his parents about that but they just shrugged – Nana smiling and Iemitsu whistling a tune from his childhood as he sharpened the kitchen knives. Tsuna is suspicious but drops it. He’s just glad to finally be left alone. Izuku is just glad that he doesn’t have to explain that he’s Quirkless (Not anymore according to his world but he won’t realize that until much later) and thus won’t be bullied for it because this world doesn’t even have Quirks. The Flames don’t count according to Mr. Sawada.

In Tsuna’s room, Izuku and Tsuna sit together on his bed. They are facing each other, pensive. Tsuna’s mom had mentioned over dinner how she hopes for Tsuna and Izuku to go to therapy for she’s seen and recognized the signs of trauma from their experience and wants them to get help for it. Tsuna’s dad had agreed. The problem was, both the Sawadas and Izuku himself agreed that mentioning to many people that he’s not from this world is a Bad Idea and should be avoided. However, the criminals who had attacked and tormented Izuku and Tsuna were from Izuku’s world where superpowers were common. How the heck are they going to talk about any of what they went through to somebody if they aren’t allowed to talk about Izuku being from another world outside of their families?

“What are we going to do?” Izuku speaks up after their moment of pensive silence. “We need to talk about what happened to us outside of each other, outside of your mom and dad.”

“Normally,” Tsuna says slowly, “I would recommend having Kaa-san be our therapist because she’s a therapist but Kaa-san says that it’s a Bad Idea for someone who’s your loved one to be your therapist even if they are an actual therapist. Because they would be bi- bi-as-ed – biased,” Tsuna’s face turns triumphed on speaking a word correctly, “towards us.”

“And your dad could leave at any time too and he’s not a therapist, so he’s not helpful in this department either,” Izuku agrees.

Tsuna frowns, “What I don’t understand is why he hasn’t left yet. It’s been 3 months since our initial kidnapping. Normally, he would be gone by the second week of us being back! Kaa-san even says he’s been here since the first week of our kidnapping, which is impossible for him. He hates staying in one place for too long, unlike Kaa-san and I.”

Izuku shrugs in response. Having never met his own dad and having no recollection of him, he has no idea how dads think. “I don’t know, mine died before I could even officially meet him… At least, that’s what Kaa-san says…”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I forgot.” Tsuna’s ears and cheeks turn red in embarrassment over complaining about his dad being home when his friend (Possible Soulmate? If Tou-san’s theory about his and Izuku’s flames intentionally Harmonizing in order to protect them against that Villain is correct.) never even got to know who his dad was.

Izuku shakes his head and smiles sadly, “You can’t miss what you never had but you can long for a bond you never got to know.”

He doesn’t say anything else but Tsuna knew, even without having to check the bond, that Izuku wanted to drop the topic.

They fall into another silence. It had been so much easier to talk when the only thing they could focus on other than pain and what the Villains were doing to them was each other and their plot to escape.

They both grimaced at the thought.

 _Kaa-san was right,_ Tsuna thinks, _We really do need therapy if plotting to escape from kidnappers and the differences between a superpowered society and non-superpowered society is an easier topic than our own family._

 _The trauma I have been through has made me come to the dreaded realization that I might have more Daddy Issues than I thought… At least I found a fellow Daddy Issues Friend._ Izuku thinks, sweatdropping. Tsuna needs a mental equivalent of a punch and a protest about having Daddy Issues. Izuku raises an eyebrow and thinks about what Tsuna had just said about his dad being home, only a few seconds ago, then sends that to Tsuna who grimaces and falls silence on his side of the bond.

Izuku rolls his eyes then flops down onto the bed, deciding that he doesn’t want to talk about going to therapy or anything else. He gets into a comfortable sleeping position. He falls asleep.

Tsuna sweatdrops because Izuku had manhandled him into laying the bed and under the covers and then curled up next to him, head on his shoulder. He turns off the light from the lamp.

Tsuna sighs then fixes their position to where they are both on their sides and facing each other, blanket pulled to their chins. Tsuna holds Izuku’s hand and simply stares at Izuku, waiting for sleep to come.

But Tsuna’s mind is in a storm for Izuku has talked many times about going home and while Tsuna knows it is right and Izuku doesn’t belong here… Tsuna doesn’t want Izuku to leave. He wants Izuku to grow up in his own world, become an incredible and amazing hero like Izuku always says he will be… he fears that Izuku will forget about his world, about their ‘little adventure’, about him. Tsuna fears that he himself will grow up, become whatever his future self wishes to become, and he will forget about Izuku’s world, about their ‘little adventure’ on the train with the Villains (such a strange concept to one who grew up in a powerless society), about him. Tsuna wishes there was a way for them to travel in and out of each other’s worlds – Tsuna wants to see the Heroes and Villains Izuku infodumps about, wants to be able to continue communicating with Izuku even when in their own worlds. He doesn’t want to lose this friendship (and what about if this Harmonized Bond of theirs develops beyond friendship in the years leading up to the scientists finally figuring out a way to send Izuku to his own world? What then? Will they find a way to still hold a long-distance relationship when they aren’t even a plane or train hop away? Or will they discontinue the relationship and slowly forget about each other even when their Flames search and search and search and earn for each other?).

A soft _go to sleep_ breaks through all other thoughts.

It’s hard to sleep.

Tsuna can’t stop thinking.

Tsuna doesn’t understand when their roles switched. Normally, it would be Izuku thinking non-stop during their bed time and Tsuna who has to get out of bed to go to Izuku’s room to help him stop thinking and go to sleep.

The two months in captivity made it to where they could only sleep when next to each other. The developed habit hasn’t stopped now that they are safe.

And yet,

Tsuna can’t stop thinking.

A wave of comfort and safety and home envelop Tsuna. Izuku’s Flames. He’s using the same technique Tsuna would use to calm Izuku enough to sleep to calm him now.

The wave settles and envelops the both of them as Tsuna smiles and returns the wave with his own Flames back to Izuku. Like a comforting blanket.

His thoughts shift and settle down, fading out in favor of the sleep which had previously eluded him.

 _Re’cva._ Sleep.

 _Re’cva._ Returned statement of sleep.

The problems are to be dealt with tomorrow, not tonight.

_Goodnight._

(Unseen, Nana takes a quick picture of the two friends sleeping, unaware of the orange glow which had been enveloping them both before she had opened the door.)


	2. Attempt to Return Back Home Before the Deadline

_6 years later_ …

“Dame-Tsuna, get up!”

“Reborn, if you pour that bucket of cold water on me, I’m telling Mama about that mysterious stain she found in the closet 2 weeks ago.”

“Dame-Tsuna, are you threatening me?”

“No. I’ve been awake since 5 so I don’t need to get hit to wake up.”

In response, Reborn hits him with a Leon hammer.

“ITAI! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?”

“If you’ve been awake this entire time, then you should be training right now.”

Tsuna straightens up and starts waving his hands and arms around as Reborn raises the Leon hammer up threateningly, “No, no, no! I’ve done training! I’ve done my morning training! Izuku got me up at 5 and we trained til 7! I just lied down to let my body recover for a while before I left for school!!!”

From the kitchen, a shout of pain could be heard before multiple crashes sounded as Nana hums and makes dinner. “Ara, ara. Tsu-kun and Reborn are quite lively in the morning, aren’t they, Izu-kun?”

“Yes, mama,” Izuku replies as he hides behind his glass of milk, nervously eyeing the knife Nana is holding tightly in her hand as she chops up some bacon for the omelette.

“Kind of makes me wonder when you and Tsuna are gonna be as lively in the morning when you go out for your morning runs and training. I could easily get up as early to make breakfast but no. I never know when you go until I get up and you’re already gone or you’re already back,” she pouts as she _calmly_ adds the bacon, moves the food around, then flips it as the fire flares briefly from the oil. The bacon sizzles as it’s mixed and added into the eggs and spices.

Izuku nervously laughs in response, putting down the glass as his hand shakes. _Mama isn’t even raising her voice or making a scary face and I’m absolutely terrified. Kaa-san’s Looming Face of Doom isn’t as scary as this! Tsuna, get your butt down here before your mom incinerates me for making ‘her Precious Tsu-kun’ as “reckless and dangerously self-sacrificing” as me!_

Tsuna just sends a mental laughing emoji in response.

_How dare you! How dare you with your innocent, ‘could do no harm’ face yet your ‘can and will destroy at the snap of a button’ boss aura laugh at me for being afraid of Mama’s Looming Cooking of Doom! I’m serious, you trickster of fiend!_

An emoji face with a tear and puppy eyes is his response. An angry tick appears above Izuku’s brow as he sends back an image of him taking the Namimori Middle tie around his neck and strangling Izuku with it.

A trinkle of laughter and a ‘try it, I dare you’ shrugging attitude is sent his way.

The tick grows. So that’s how you want to play it…

Izuku sends the shrieking, earthquake-like vibrating roar of a dragon through the Bond. An out loud shrieking yelp of surprise and the sounds of someone falling down the stairs comes back to him. Izuku hides his smirk behind his glass as he takes a sip of milk.

A disheveled 14-year-old Tsuna comes into the kitchen-dining room and stares accusatorily at the innocent middle schooler called Izuku. “You did that on purpose.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Izuku replies as he smiles innocently at Tsuna. Tsuna stares at him in response, eye twitching, “Bitch.”

Izuku gasps scandalously as Iemitsu, coming into the dining room from the living room, says, “Language!” 

Tsuna mumbles uncomprehendingly as Nana sets the last plate of omelettes onto the table. She takes a seat as Iemitsu and Tsuna take a seat. The kids come trinkling in soon after, drawn by the smell of food. (They replaced the square table with a big adjustable circular one to make room for everyone.)

Nana and Iemitsu sit next to each other, Lambo sits on Tsuna’s left, I-pin sits next to Lambo with Fuuta sitting next to I-pin. Izuku sits directly on Tsuna’s right. Two seats remain open, one next to Iemitsu, the other next to Izuku.

Reborn, a 4-year old now, joins them at the table, taking the seat next to Izuku. Bianchi, on an assignment, wouldn’t be joining them today.

“ _Itadakimasu!_ ” They all say before digging into the food. Omelettes and toast today. There’s been a food shortage in the Namimori markets these past few weeks so everybody’s being careful on how much food they’re making and eating for dinner, breakfast, and lunch. Nobody complains about no longer having a feast every day, they are well aware of how fortunate they are that Nana was able to go grocery shopping and stock up on food before the shortage began. Izuku is well familiar with Food Shortages, his world is also well familiar with Food Shortages – criminals in his world, both those in organizations and those not, had the tendency to attack food suppliers, the trucks, the farms, the store rooms, even the markets themselves. All in the name of making a statement or causing chaos. _Some Villains did it as a statement about society, some did it to cause chaos, some did it because villainy was the only way for them to express themselves because herodom just wouldn’t work for them… it’s all the same in the end. Everybody went home hungry and you were lucky if you managed to stock up on food before the shortage._ Yes, Izuku was well familiar with going to bed not completely full or hungry because they couldn’t afford to eat dinner that night. _Middle class citizens and the food shortages still caused us to go hungry some days._ Izuku had already told the Sawadas and the kids about the food shortages back home. About how some Villains were cruel enough to attack another food supplier or market or truck a few days or weeks after the first attack. How some people were cruel enough to have that destruction go on for days or even weeks until it would take the farmers and suppliers and companies and markets not just weeks to recover and get working again but sometimes months, one time 20 years before Izuku was even born, it had taken them 3 years to recover from an attack which had lasted for weeks. “Rich, poor, middle. Doesn’t matter when there’s hardly any food for even a rich person to buy and horde.” The kids – Lambo specifically – stopped complaining after that. Tsuna, being a civilian-raised mafia boss-in-training, had grimaced and flinched at the tale; Iemitsu, being a mix between civilian-raised and mafia-raised and having lived through several Food Shortages in his childhood, had flinched, and Reborn had lowered the brim of his hat to hide his expression when he heard Izuku’s tale.

Tsuna and Izuku got up when they finished their meal, placing their dishes in the sink, and thanking Nana for the meal. They grab their backpacks, put on their outside shoes, and walked out the door.

Gokudera, Takeshi, and Chrome are waiting for them by the gates. Takeshi raises a hand in greeting, “Yo, Tsuna, Izuku!”

“Baseball-freak, don’t treat Tsuna-sama and Izuku-sama so casually!” Gokudera yells. It had taken a while but Tsuna had managed to convince Gokudera that he truly wants Gokudera as a friend – someone who talks back, someone who disagrees with him, someone who corrects him when he’s wrong and gets into arguments yet is there for him when he needs them –, not a subordinate, and was able to get Gokudera to drop the Jyuudaime stuff. He insisted on the -sama honorific and somehow got it into his head that Izuku was going to be with them as Tsuna’s spouse/advisor or something along those lines in the future when Tsuna officially takes up the mantle, so as taken up calling Izuku ‘Izuku-sama’ even though most likely Izuku is going to be back in his own world by then.

 _Even though we told him that our relationship is most likely going to end soon due to me having to go back to my own world and there being no way to communicate once I’m there, even though the Future-that-Won’t-Happen shows me not being there and everybody forgetting about me, Gokudera-kun is still convinced we’re going to be married by the time you take on the mantle_ , Izuku notes amusedly and also embarrassedly. Red dances on his ears.

Tsuna mentally groans embarrassedly in response. A blush dusts his cheeks. Then an image of them getting married, laughing and smiling, pops into both of their heads and their entire face turns red. They don’t look at each other even as their hands join together and they join the others at the gate.

 _We might as well be married with us being in the same house, sleeping in the same bed_ (Not like that, you perverts) _, eating the same food, going to the same school, and doing almost everything together. Even sharing and solving our problems together,_ Izuku muses. Tsuna stumbles and stutters out loud.

Chrome, Takeshi, and Gokudera watch everything going on, confused. Sky Bonds, like Tsuna and Izuku’s, are on another level to the Guardian Bonds. If it had been a Guardian Bond, they would’ve been able to follow the conversation Izuku and Tsuna were having but it was not. They look at each other and shrug. _‘They’re probably talking about the improbability of them getting married. Izuku, after all, has to return back to his own world before the end of this school year,’_ Chrome suggest softly through the Guardian Bond. The two boy Guardian nod in understanding and realization. _‘Or they’re talking about what it would be like if they were married. The blushing wouldn’t happen if they were talking about the improbability,’_ Takeshi returns. _‘Quiet, you two. Tsuna-sama can hear us even if he’s not listening in,’_ Gokudera snaps back.

Tsuna shakes his head then looks at everyone as he opens the gate, letting Izuku out then closes it. “Let’s just to get to school, everyone.”

“Hai.”

They head to Namimori Mido. Unconsciously, they go into a formation. Izuku and Tsuna are still holding hands, so Gokudera and Takeshi take front position. Chrome would’ve taken rear position but Izuku started a conversation with her and Tsuna about illusions and the mental Quirks in Izuku’s original world that could potentially be evolved or developed or even trained to create something similar to the illusions Mists are able to create. So Chrome walks next to Izuku, keeping an eye out for anybody who might attack from the side. She also occasionally glances behind them to make sure nobody’s following from behind, not liking how defenseless their backs were. Tsuna soon convinces her to stop, citing that Hibari and the Disciplinary Committee wouldn’t allow anybody not recognized as allies anywhere in Namimori – heck, even their Allies have a possibility of getting attacked by Hibari or any member of the Disciplinary Committee. Chrome agrees though she still doesn’t like how defenseless their backs were.

Kyoko and Hana soon join them with Ryohei running past in uniform, yelling ‘Extreme!’ as he went. Gokudera yells out at him about nearly crashing into them while Takeshi laughs in joy at Ryohei’s energy in the morning. Kyoko and Hana take precedent behind the group, Chrome relaxes at now having their backs covered. Hana grumbles about ‘monkey men’ as she taps her umbrella against her shoulder, Kyoko shakes her head at her brother who has long run past them and giggles at Hana’s choice of weapon (also there to keep her relatively dry in case of rain, Namimori weather has been incredibly unpredictable these past 50 years, not that the kids realize this given that it’s been unpredictable their whole lives). “Umbrellas are incredibly useful if you swing and stab hard enough,” Hana sniffs in response to her friend’s laughter.

Tsuna looks back and smiles nervously, not happy about the girls being their defense in case anybody attacks from behind but also knowing from his own experience and Izuku’s vaguely remembered recounts of the female Heroes and Villains from his world that they are perfectly capable. Especially given that they were the ones who forcibly got him to talk and to get them involved. It was actually Hana’s idea that instead of destroying Vongola, he could turn it into something else, he did after all have the resources to do so. It was Izuku’s idea that if he can’t get rid of the Mafia trying to butt into his business then he can make into a Vigilante Group. Vongola already has the bare bones for it, everything else just needs to be stripped down and refilled with Vigilante and Hero meat rather than the Mafia meat it had been forcibly filled with. Tsuna had thought about it for a few days and came back agreeing with them. They had made a plan and have been slowly working at it, starting with the Japanese Branch. Tsuna and his Guardians working from the inside out and the girls working at it from the outside in. Izuku has carefully kept himself from getting too involved with the Mafia aspect of Vongola, only helping Tsuna with ideas on how to be a hero/vigilante (stuff that he knows from his own world and observations – years of comparing and contrasting between his Pro Heroes and the heroes of this world plus the years of observing and analyzing that he had done before the Kidnapping Incident really help). This disconnection is so that Izuku won’t accidently do anything Mafia-like when he’s in his own world and in UA, whether that’s the Hero Course or GenEd Course (please let Izuku hold on to the dream of actually getting in, Izuku recognizes and is currently choosing to ignore the fact that he hasn’t been in his world in years and might not make it in time for the UA Entrance Exam or even if he did make in time, that he might not get in).

Tsuna returns back to the conversation with Izuku and Chrome.

Izuku contemplates,“There are so many possibilities of what a Quirk like Mist Flames could do! It could be used as a distraction to help the Heroes get around the Villains and reach hostages, get them out before any fighting begins. It can used to confuse your opponent, let you knock them out, causing less damage and casualties! People will probably be upset not getting to see a fight but nobody gets hurt and there’s hardly any damage, so who cares? What kind of Quirk would it even be? Maybe you would just have to touch someone with your hands to activate, maybe you would only have to look directly at the person - ”

Chrome interrupted, “But if you have to look at the person to activate, wouldn’t that nullify the sneaking around? Direct eye contact would mean the person would see you and then the illusion, like maybe you were trying to get the criminal to think nobody was there, well the criminal now knows you’re there and the illusion is useless. Direct eye contact would also mean it would be hard to attack from behind and from the sides. Something like having an illusion Quirk that requires direct eye contact is absolutely useless in Rescue, Underground, Underwater, Hostage Situations that require sneaking around – you might even struggle with Limelight if the criminal figures out how your Quirk works.”

“That’s true,” Izuku concedes, “So maybe not direct eye contact or anything that requires you to see the person to activate the illusion. How about actual Mist? Mist appears, spreads around for a while then the illusion takes hold?”

“A smart criminal who’s done their research, even if you’re an Underground Hero, would recognize the signs and would probably have some kind of defense ready, or if there isn’t enough time, they could yell out a warning to the other criminals,” Tsuna points out.

“Wait. Why are we assuming that the illusion wouldn’t take hold if your opponent notices that you are there? If it’s already activated, it should take hold and render the opponent unconscious or distract the opponent long enough for you to do whatever you were sent to do. That’s not even taking into account the amount of possibilities that this type of Quirk could bring if it was used for rescue, like if someone was attacked and one of their organs collapsed or they’re about to lose their leg,” Gokudera joins in the conversation as they turn a corner. Namimori Middle (also called Junior High) comes into view.

Chrome agrees, “Hayato-san is right. Your opponent noticing you using your Quirk doesn’t really matter if it’s already activating. The illusion will take control and gives you enough time to knock ‘em out if they noticed, enough time to get away and do what you need to do if they don’t notice you. Depending on what kind of illusion they’re seeing and whatever kind of drawback you have.”

“C’mon guys, school’s up ahead. We’ll continue this conversation later,” Hana interjects, “While it’s interesting, let’s get to class on time please.”

They pick up the pace and hurry into the school and to class – luckily, all of them are in the same class.

Tsuna and Izuku didn’t realize they had been holding hands the entire walk until they had to let go to get to their shoe locker and change shoes.

Meanwhile back at the house, the kids are outside in the backyard playing while Nana puts up the laundry to dry. In the living room, Iemitsu sits, his laptop open on the coffee table in front of him with many different taps and apps open. A mug of coffee sits close enough for Iemitsu to grab and sip out of but far enough so that if it tips over by accident nothing will spill near or on his laptop. A notebook lays open on his lap, filled and bursting with notes, taps, and extra paper on one end. The pencil is in his mouth as he stressly goes back and forth between the notebook and the laptop.

He reads through the information displayed on his laptop, jotting notes and questions on his notebook, flipping between tabs to get the correct information even as he writes down a report on a document, looking through his notebook and the other tabs to make sure the info he’s tapping out is correct. He lets out a small scream of frustration once he realizes that one of the reports doesn’t match up with the reports and news articles on the same mission/ “mysterious incident”. He grabs his phone off the table and makes a call, speaking rapid fire Italian in frustration the moment someone picks up. He pulls up the Vongola app which allows employees from all departments to interact, get feedback quickly, a bunch of bureaucratic stuff having to do with the Company and the Familigia (once you manage to pass the security test that tests to make sure it’s the actual underworld member and not a hacker or something). Still speaking in Italian as he cusses out the poor person on the phone, the person who made the messed up report, whoever invented paperwork, the idiot previous CEDEF boss who decided that he would be a good CEDEF leader when he’s more suited for the frontlines/espionage/dem-olition and his leadership skills only work well with a small squadron, he works at fixing the mistakes on the messed up report, making a report about the mess up, a flag about the person who messed up the report, assigning a group to make damage control between Vongola and the people that got screwed over because of this messed up report. He also changes the phone call to the Guardian in charge of the squadron that messed up the report, learns that they messed up the mission on top of the report, cusses the Guardian out because he already made and sent a report about the messed-up report and now has to make a report about the messed-up mission which lead to the messed-up report, gets to work on that report, while also making _another_ mission to _another_ squadron (this group a mix of CEDEF members and Vongola members) to fix the mistakes made the original squadron. Then cusses out the Guardian again for not making a report and not fixing it because _“this happened two weeks ago, you **** ***** ********! It should’ve been fixed before it ended up in my lap! – 50 years on my 20 means nothing if you can’t even fix a mistake during the mission or after it! It should’ve been taken care of while that squadron was still in that country! ***** this ***** bureaucratic **********, my ***! Curses on you, your cow, your family, your reputation! I hate you, I hate this stupid ****** paperwork, and I hope you’re the one assigned to handle the bureaucratic and underworld fallout your squadron caused by their actions! They should know better!”_

He hung up then called the squad leader of the mission and gave him a dressing down for the mess up his squad’s failed mission is now causing him and the rest of CEDEF which should’ve been cleaned up and fixed before they even left. The person on the receiving end could practically feel the Flames roiling and churning off the CEDEF Leader into the air. He wasn’t able to get a word in edge wise and knew without having actually met the man that this was the Young Lion – formally the Fierce Sandstorm, not that the squad leader knew that – the Mafia greatly feared. He was shaking in fear as he listened to the Young Lion raging at his and his team’s mistake, the rest of his team in the barracks, most of whom weren’t even paying attention to the conversation, were also frozen, the weight of the Young Lion’s words and Flames somehow still having affect on all of them even though the phone wasn’t on speaker. _“Make sure it doesn’t happen again!”_ The CEDEF Leader snapped before hanging up without letting the squad leader finish his ‘yes, sir!’ The squad leader shakenly set down the phone and looked at his team, then sucked in a breath and stood up, _“Training grounds. NOW!”_

Back at the Sawada House, Iemitsu has finally managed to calm down after finishing the reports and the rest of the work that he needed to get down before he noticed the messed-up report. He closes his notebook, closing his laptop too as he puts the notebook on the coffee table and stands up, stretching. He cracks his neck and stretches his arms with a sigh.

Reborn enters the living room, “You done?”

“Yeah, finished everything that I needed to do today.”

“Need to go to Italy? Certainly sounded like you do.”

Iemitsu shakes his head, “No. Might need to go to Kyoto to one of the Company departments there sometime this week but no need to go to Italy.”

Reborn walks further in, “Sounds like you found a mistake that will need you to look at.”

“I found a mistake alright. But it can be solved by sending a squadron and making a report. Vongola’s team made the mistake, I had to make the paperwork and report it as well as make a possible mission request to fix it, while flagging the person who initially made the mistake, as well as dress down the people involved and their immediate superior. Everything is in Vongola’s hands to solve now. They might try to drag me into it like always but I’ve done CEDEF’s part for this mistake – it was a direct Vongola Famiglia mistake, not a group mistake or a legal company mistake, so they can’t drag me into it any further than this.”

Reborn hums as he takes a seat in the armchair, “They’ve really gotten desperate in getting you to come to Italy for longer than 2 weeks. How long is your revenge gonna go on?”

Iemitsu side-eyes him, “Until I’ve made up for 8 years of missed opportunities with my child, until they let me lead CEDEF how I like, until they realize that I’m not cut out for this and take their losses and take me out.”

“Vongola really is ruining you. Your Resolve used to be a lot more powerful than it is now,” Reborn frowns as he observes the bags underneath Iemitsu’s eyes, the blank eyes that looked out at the world tiredly. A slump and slow shuffle to Iemitsu’s steps when he’s not in a hurry, where once there was an uncontrollable energetic and wild bounce to it. The burst of wild, furious Flames that had flooded the living room and almost the entire house before it was tightly reigned in was the only sign of the old Iemitsu (Before CEDEF, before Vongola, before the Mafia) Reborn has seen in over 20 years.

An old, mischievous light shines in Iemitsu’s eyes briefly, a small smile reminiscent to his old crooked pranking smile dances across his face as he replies, “The Sandstorm is always here even on a clear day, for they can never take away a Desert.” Reborn, having spent years training Iemitsu and now Tsuna (and Izuku when he can get him to ignore the Mafia aspect), easily translated the cryptic Desert-raised-Sawada-typical message: They haven’t broken the me that was the Fierce Sandstorm, I’ve just gotten incredibly good at hiding it and they’ve gotten terrible at recognizing Masks.

“Does Tsuna realize?”

“The Desert always finds its way into its children and grandchildren even if they live in a green filled land,” Iemitsu deadpans in return as he gathers his laptop and notebook, preparing to put them in his office. He drains the last of the coffee, sets the mug down, then leaves the living room.

Reborn translates easily as Iemitsu leaves. Translation: He’s speaking the language, isn’t he?

Translation of sarcastic remark which Reborn mentally notes to beat up Iemitsu for under the guise of training: Yes, he recognized my masks and whirlwind-style torn them down to get answers. Yes, he very quickly picked up on the Desert language. No, I didn’t teach him, just told him Desert Tales and he picked up on the hidden language himself. Yes, the secret code Izuku and he had made during their Kidnapping Situation is based on the hidden language. No, I don’t know the secret code because the meanings are different. No, I still won’t teach you the actual language for it can only be taught to those of the Desert, born or raised by.

Reborn curses silently. Not one of his ancestors came from the Desert. And even though Reborn had gotten good at translating the Desert statements spoken in any of the languages he knows, if Iemitsu or Nana or, god forbid, Tsuna and Izuku started actually speaking the hidden language itself and not just the translated version of the language, he wouldn’t be able to follow at all. The language is specifically designed to be spoken not only by itself but can even be spoken even when you’re speaking in another language, like a code. From what he’s observed over the years of Iemitsu speaking it (and he spoke it a lot in the early years of their training), Desert Tales and Statements (translated from the language of course) is the only way to pass the language on. Only those of the Desert (born or descended) are able to recognize and response correctly to the tales and statements in the correct way or the correct language. Apparently, Primo was raised in the Desert before he managed to escape to Sicily (“You don’t move from the Desert, Reborn. You escape.” He recalls little Iemitsu solemnly telling him this during a break between assignments), and apparently he passed the Desert language down through his descendants (becoming a code for them to use to escape Mafia and other criminal organizations’ attention) until Iemitsu who managed to reawaken the Desert in their blood by growing up in the Desert as well. Some part of Reborn couldn’t help but wonder how Primo reacted in the Sky Ring when Tsuna got the ring. Iemitsu says that unless you reflect the Desert Sky rather than the actual desert with your Flames, it’s fairly easy for Desert Children (born and descended) to recognize fellow Desert Children, especially if said Desert Child escaped before meeting a fellow Desert Child. Apparently, it is usually not a good thing when an escaped Desert Child meets another Desert Child. “Most of us were slaves, some of us were there because their family was so poor, the child needed to work and they might as well be counted as slaves with how little they earned. Very few of us were there by choice. It wasn’t a good sign because usually, it meant someone had failed to escape or had been descended and then actually captured by slavers or their family over the years became so poor, they had to go to work in the Desert when before their family was free in the green and water filled lands,” Little Iemitsu had softly told him once after one too many nightmares.

Reborn sits in the armchair in the living room and remembers the time he can home from an assignment to see 16-year-old Iemitsu breaking down crying in the middle of the main room, a single piece of paper in front of him. He remembers his adult-self checking the paper to see it is a Flame type test, to see Iemitsu’s a Sky, he remembers not understanding why Iemitsu would break down over this until he turned the page to see a note about possible relatives on the paper. Giotto di Vongola had been listed as having the same Flame as Sawada Iemitsu, the Flames were similar enough for Iemitsu to be noted down as a possible direct descendent of Vongola Primo. Reborn remembers his eyes widening at that, realizing the danger immediately if word got out about a direct descendent of Primo being alive. Reborn, at that moment, had understood why Iemitsu might freak out but didn’t understand why he would be crying. He remembers comforting Iemitsu – as best as a hitman could comfort someone (not that well). He remembers Iemitsu telling him the story of a slave who escaped and became a protector. “That changed. Something happened and the protector disappeared. I should have recognized a fellow Desert Child and realized the connection for that story was passed down from my family before I was enslaved. When you told me about Vongola and its past, I should’ve recognized Primo. Maybe if I had talked to him, I would’ve.” Reborn, after he said that, had realized immediately why Iemitsu was breaking down. Desert Children were not supposed to met outside.

Reborn, once he got out of the flashback, tipped his hat down to hide his expression.

When Tsuna and Izuku got home with the others, Shouichi and Spanner were there in the living room. Tsuna stops by the living room entrance and blinks.

“Shouichi? Spanner? What are you guys doing here?”

Shouichi cluthes his stomach nervously as he replies, “We think we found a way for Izuku to return back to his own universe.”

Izuku sucks in a breath as Tsuna stares, knees weak, as a simple “Eh?” leaves his lips.

Izuku shakes as he steps forward further into the room, “Truly? Are you certain?”

“Mah, we haven’t tested it yet with a human but so far it’s working,” Spanner shrugs. “Talbot-san helped us,” Shouichi adds.

A smile lights up Izuku’s face before he realizes who exactly he will be leaving behind. He turns to look at Tsuna, tears filling his eyes. “Tsuna - ”

Even as he starts to tremble, Tsuna smiles, tears also filling his eyes, “Congratulations. You can go home now.”

Izuku frowns as a tear slips down Tsuna’s face. He hugs him, Tsuna desperately returning the hug. “I love you,” Izuku whispers into his ear, “No distance is going to change that.”

“I will remember you,” Tsuna furiously whispers back, “The Future-That-Once-Was will not happen for us because I will remember you.” Izuku smiles against his shoulder even as they both start to shake with the tears leaving their eyes.

Communication will be impossible between two different universes. Their Flames reached out and clung to each other possibly for the last time.

As they broke apart from their hug, Spanner interjects, “Vongola, Vongola’s spouse,” they both blush at that, “We aren’t married, Spanner!” Spanner carries on as if they hadn’t said anything, “The machines we’ve created hasn’t been tested. It might not work. And depending on how it reacts, we might be set back by a few hours, days, weeks… possibly months. Maybe even years if we’re really unlucky.”

Izuku shifts, brow furrowed, “If it’s years or months, then there goes my chance at UA.”

Tsuna bit his tongue to keep himself from saying anything even as he takes Izuku’s hand and squeezes it. Izuku squeezes back, knowing what Tsuna actually wanted without Tsuna saying anything. _It will be ok,_ his Flames brush softly against Tsuna’s in comfort, _Neither of us will forget and even if it takes years to do so, we will meet and be together again. Even if our meeting is just in front of a screen._

Tsuna’s Flames brush back in acknowledgement and love. Tsuna knows, even without remembering Kawahira’s statement about Izuku, that Izuku doesn’t belong and needs to go home to his own universe. That doesn’t mean he likes the idea of losing his first friend and lover.

The others walk closer and surround Tsuna comfortingly, silently giving support without him asking. He sends a silent wave of gratitude and love back in their direction through the Guardians Bond – a nod of gratitude to Hana and Kyoko who are Flame Active but are only his Secondary Guardians thus not fully bonded to him. (Reborn says Secondary Guardians are rare and do not fully bond with their Secondary Sky until they’ve reached maturity both mentally and Flame-wise.)

They are all in the Japanese Branch’s Vongola Mansion, underground and several meters from the actual mansion in the laboratory. Izuku, in street clothes now, stands before a machine supposedly designed to send him back to his own world. The machine is about 10 meters wide, 3 meters long, and 6 feet tall. Two metal poles with tech inside stand at the both ends of the machine. At the top of the machine stretches several wires between the two poles. In the center is a circular device looking strangely similar to the Time Turner from Harry Potter and the Mare Ring. Izuku and Tsuna both unconsciously shutter at the memory of the Mare Ring. At the bottom is the platform for Izuku to step onto. There are 3 steps for Izuku to walk up on to get to the actual platform. Izuku clutches the strap of the backpack which holds his belongings tightly. For a single moment, a silver of doubt snakes into his mind. He’s lived in this world for so long, he has friends in this world, a _lover_ in this world whom he’s only recently gotten to date and explore the possibilities of a relationship with. A Family who welcomes him and doesn’t judge him even though he is not from this world. No – what about his mother? The mother who birthed and raised him before his kidnapping, who’s love he still remembers even though what she looked like has been fading from his mind and being replaced with the mother who took him into her home and raised him these past 6 years with hardly any questions. He wants desperately to see and hear the woman who is his real mother (he loves Nana but he wants his birth mother). He doesn’t want to forget the memory of being powerless, he doesn’t want to forget the feelings and pain of the first 8 years of his life. He wants to remember the good and the bad of his world, he wants to change the good and the bad of his world, he wants to Save People. Even with Tsuna planning on changing his Famiglia, Izuku doesn’t belong here and won’t accomplish his dream of being a hero who Saves here. He must go home, he tells his Flames that cry out in pain of leaving his Soulmate. He wipes at the tears that fall down his face as he stares at the machine that will send him to his own universe.

The others (also in casual clothes now) stand behind a plastic glass shield a few feet behind Izuku to stop themselves from being sucked in, not that Tsuna would mind ending up in Izuku’s world. But Spanner said that only Izuku who doesn’t belong in this world will be accepted by the portal. “Remember Izuku, we haven’t tested this machine yet – you may end up back here, in another universe not your own, you may end up in your universe with all of your limbs or missing a few,” Shouichi says through the microphone. Tsuna and all of his Guardians (except Hibari who’s on patrol) with Kyoko, Hana, the kids, Enma, Nana, Reborn, and Iemitsu all watch behind the scientists – Shouichi, Spanner, Giannini, and Talbot – as Izuku nods in understanding. Spanner moves Shouichi aside from the microphone and says into it, “I would recommend that step back a few and let us test the machine first to see if it will hold and let you through. Also to see if it won’t break.”

Izuku steps back immediately. Tsuna is just barely resisting the urge to call the entire thing off. Hayato and Takeshi’s grips on his shoulders help ground him and also helping keep him from calling it off. The other Guardians talk about anything and nothing through the Guardians Bond while keeping their eyes on Izuku and the machine to help distract Tsuna enough from his frantic thoughts about losing his boyfriend to another universe or possibly actually losing him due to a failing machine. Enma looks at his friend worriedly before looking at his other friend Izuku, crossing his fingers and both hoping it works and hoping it doesn’t.

Spanner and Shouichi looks at Talbot while Giannini goes over the numbers on his calculator again. Talbot nods for them to activate the machine. They turn it on.

The machine lights up. The second circle inside of the outside circle starts spinning rapidly counter clockwise with the third circle inside of it spinning clockwise. The rock and glass in the center glow. An answering glow comes from the center of the platform. A barrier rises up from the two poles and meet in the center. A portal opens up and spreads to the poles. It wavers, everybody sucks in a breath, the wind picks up, Izuku starts getting dragged into the portal, he tries to stabilize but that causes him to stumble closer. The scientists get to work on shutting it down as the others shout in dismay and fear. Tsuna runs closer and hits the barrier, “Izuku!” Izuku is rising up and being pulled into the portal as he tries to counter this with a burst of Flame in the portal’s direction. “IZUKU!” Tsuna yells in fear, the others shout out with him, all of them knowing that this wasn’t supposed to happen. The portal collapses within itself, the poles bend, one pole breaks and crashes to the floor, the platform snaps in half, the weird circle crossed between Time Turners and the Mare Ring thing landed half suspended half not, and Izuku crashes to the floor and the platform steps.

The barrier opens, Tsuna and the others immediately run forward to Izuku and the machine. “Are you ok, Izuku-kun?” Enma asks as Tsuna helps him up. He groans in pain and rubs his head. “I would’ve preferred a better landing but at least all of my limbs are still here… and relatively intact,” he mutters. Everybody relaxes for Izuku doesn’t say things like that around them if he was truly hurt – no, he would’ve said that he was fine and tried to stop them from touching him so that he didn’t have to deal with a burst of pain from being touched. They all looked at the broken machine. Spanner scratches his head as he puts a lollipop in his mouth, “Whelp. Back to the drawing board I guess.” Takeshi looks at him, eyes sharp, “Does that mean fixing this will take another couple of months or years?” Izuku’s head snaps up, “Months or years? I don’t have that. Hell, I don’t even have a couple of weeks! My calculations are what day it is back in my world could be completely incorrect!” Talbot taps at the platform with his staff then looks at everybody. “Calm down,” He says, “This will take us only a couple of days to fix and finish.” Sweat goes down Giannini’s face as he calculates that, “Uh -” Shouichi chokes, “A couple of days? The machine itself is weeks’ worth of hours to fix, not to mention the months of calculating and tweaking that would need to be done to fix and stabilize and create the portal -”

Talbot interrupts, “A couple of days is all we need.” Spanner sweat-drops as he stares at the completely ruined sparking machine then Talbot then back to the machine. “I would say, it’s back to the sketch board.”

The non-scientists in the room watch this back and forth happen between the scientists, sweat-dropping.

“Do you doubt your and your team’s ability?” Talbot inquired, raising an eyebrow. “What? No!” Giannini replies. The other two shake their heads. “Then a couple of days is all we need.” Talbot nods his head and looks back to the machine, pulling at his tools. “Best get to work now then.” The other engineers look at each other then sigh at the thought of pulling more all-nighters then straighten up and get to work.

The non-scientists leave the engineers to their work.

Izuku sits between the roots of the willow tree which rests not far from the Vongola Mansion. His backpack leans against one of the roots next to him. He leans his head back and stares at the sky and the softly waving leaves and tree branches of the willow. Tear tracks show that he had been crying. A soft, mourning ‘Gao’ sounds in front of him. He looks down to see Natsu the lion there, shaking and tears also falling down his eyes as he blinks.

“Natsu,” Izuku straightens up and picks the lion up then rests him on his lap. He curls up and tries to bury himself into Izuku’s warmth immediately, “Tsuna’s sad too, huh.”

A low, keening “Gao~” is his response. Izuku smiles sadly, “I’m here for a couple more days though.”

“That’s not why I’m sad though,” a voice interrupts, Izuku looks up to see Tsuna entering the willow tree past its dropping leaves, “And that’s not why you’re sad either.”

“Tsuna.” Tsuna gestures to the empty spot next to Izuku. Izuku shifts a little to give him more room as he nods an ok. Tsuna sits down, adjusting his position so the root behind him doesn’t dig all the way into his back. He ends up with all of his right side pressing up to Izuku’s left side. Not that either of them mind.

Tsuna observes the area around them. “This is where we had our first kiss,” he states, an unknown emotion quietly lining the edges of his voice. “Yes,” Izuku nods, his voice almost shaky, “When I had that nightmare where you died during our captivity, waking up crying, and running away to hide. You tracked me down and comforted me.”   
“It was the first nightmare about our captivity you’d had in a while.” Izuku lays his head on Tsuna’s shoulder.

“… Do your Guardians still think we’re getting married?”

“… No. The event that took place today made them finally realize that we aren’t getting married once we’re legally of age… that we can’t get married at all…”

“Because we are of two completely different worlds, literally.”

Tsuna takes Izuku’s hand and clutches it tightly, laying his head on top of Izuku’s. “I don’t want to lose you,” he admits quietly.

“It certainly feels like it, doesn’t it?” Izuku tries to smile but it falls short. “You know… When I was standing before that machine, for the briefest of moments doubt planted itself in my head. I have friends here, a found family here, a boyfriend here,” he briefly moves and kisses Tsuna’s cheeks then returns to his previous position, “I had support here in a way I didn’t really have back in my world. You all believed and still believe that I can become a Hero even when we still thought that I was Quirkless and it was your Flames this entire time that had helped us escape.”

Tsuna closes his eyes and squeezes Izuku’s hand. Izuku starts to cry again, “B- but then I thought about my mother who’s voice and face I’ve been slowly forgetting. I can’t even remember if she had green hair or black hair that just looked green. I thought about the love that came from her that I still can remember. Mama tried her best but Kaa-san – in that moment more than anything, I wanted to see and hug Kaa-san again. And then I thought about my dream. About how this world wasn’t made like mine – I wanted to be a Hero and other than a Vigilante or some kind of a law enforcement officer, there aren’t heroes here. I want to be a Hero who Saves People, that people can look to and know that they are safe now. I want to fix the Hero system with the help of my peers and I can’t do that here – even though here is where you, my boyfriend, is, it doesn’t have a Hero System, there’s nothing here for me to save that can’t be saved by an average citizen or an officer -”

“Or Vongola,” Tsuna interjects softly, his own tears falling. Pain grows deeper and wider in his heart. Natsu whines and cuddles closer to Izuku.

“Oh, Tsuna,” Izuku weeps and curls closer to Tsuna, other hand coming up to clutch Tsuna’s chest. Tsuna’s own free hand comes up and grabs Izuku’s arms, clutching the fabric.

“I don’t want you to go but I know you must return to your own world. Kawahira’s statement isn’t helping. You are my best friend and lover. I love you.”

“I know. I love you too, Tsuna.”

They mourn together the loss of their relationship, the loss of each other, the separation of each other. Their Flames curl and dance around each other, then hug, embracing Izuku and Tsuna. They sigh at the warmth and comfort of each other’s Flames.

Tsuna drags up Izuku’s face, cups his hand on his cheek. Izuku softly touches the hand with his own. They gaze at each other, memorizing each other’s face.

Tsuna’s eyes glow orange with determination as he vows to Izuku in their secret code, “ _I will not forget you, my Soul Sky._ ”

Izuku’s eyes glow orange with determination as he vows to Tsuna in their secret code, “ _I will not forget you, my Soul Sky._ ”

They kiss as they seal the vow.

Then they put their foreheads together and close their eyes, simply resting. Natsu purrs as their Flames come to life on their foreheads, joined as one.

They kiss again, Izuku wrapping his arms around Tsuna’s shoulders. Tsuna hugs him tight, pulling him close as best as they could.

Later, the two star-crossed lovers are found by Tsuna’s Guardians, still under the willow tree, hugging each other close. Fast asleep.


	3. Back to the BNHA World

Just like Talbot said, Spanner, Giannini, Shouichi, and Talbot fixed the dimension hopping machine within the span of a couple of days. Izuku still wasn’t sure how to feel about this and Tsuna too is struggling with his feelings about seeing Izuku leave.

But no matter any protests, the group is once again gathered in the underground lab, standing before the machine which will (hopefully) take Izuku home, back to his original world, successfully. Izuku stares at the machine for a second then turns to face the others. All of them are wearing their street clothes or protection body suits and googles in the case of the scientists working around the area where the alternate universe machine is.

Enma smiles at him sorrowfully. Izuku and Tsuna both had helped him greatly in seeing the truth before he could make a tragic mistake that would’ve hurt his family in the future more than helped them. They had only been friends for a few months, it was sad to see Izuku go.

Tsuna’s Guardians also smile (or grunt) at him, some forcibly to hide the tears, some look away, some sorrowfully, and others don’t even bother to hide their tears. Izuku smiles through the tears and ugly crying as it finally sinks in that this might very well be the last time he sees everybody.

He hugs, fist bumps, and warrior-style shakes hands with, all of them, including Enma, goodbye.

Reborn looks at Izuku, nods in acknowledgement of the child he helped raise into a strong boy, then turns and leads the other Guardians to the barrier. Iemitsu waves goodbye from behind the barrier, having already said his official goodbye last night. Izuku waves goodbye back to him.

He stands before Tsuna now. “Spanner says that within your backpack is the weapon Leon made for you and the materials the Support Department will need in order to make a hero costume that will best fit and work with your Flames. He also put your box animal in there and all the things you’ve gathered and made over the years you’ve been here that will help you. Including a change of clothes in case you end up far from Musutafu. Or even Japan in general. Spanner says that there’s no guarantee that you’ll end up in the right country, even though they made certain it would be the right universe, so you have all of the languages Reborn made us learn memorized and ready to use if you end up somewhere other than Japan, right? Right, of course you do, you’re always prepared,” Tsuna tells him. Izuku smiles nervously and lovingly, knowing that it’s his fault Tsuna has developed his muttering and mother-henning habit even if the mother-henning has always been hiding somewhere inside of Tsuna. He gestures for Tsuna to calm down by using his usual method: Placing a hand lovingly on Tsuna’s shoulder and another on his cheek and rubbing gently to calm down his muttering. They had found out about this particular trick with Izuku a while ago. When that didn’t work, and Tsuna started mentioning not ending up in the right country, Izuku switches to moving his cheek-holding hand to the back of the neck and using his other hand to brush a hand slowly through Tsuna’s hair. Another trick they had figured out would calm Izuku down from his muttering and analyzing. This only works with people he trusts though. That didn’t work either, so Izuku, rolling his eyes, kisses Tsuna in the lips, stopping the infodump. If all else fails, have the lover kiss them. It will stop the muttering fairly quickly. This method was an accident that a tired Tsuna who just wanted to go to bed had discovered after Gokudera had set off Izuku to do an entire muttering infodump about the Hero Society and how people would react to the Dying Will Flames’ existence.

The kiss shut Tsuna up as he returns it immediately.

They reluctantly break apart after Giannini coughs awkwardly to remind them of where they were.

They give a short kiss to each other before separating. They hold hands and put their forehead together, drinking the appearance of each other one last time. Then they separate. Izuku taking a couple of steps back, closer to the machine. Tsuna backing up, closer to the barrier.

“Midoriya,” Shouichi speaks up then, walking up to Izuku with something in his hand. “Take this.”

Izuku blinks and takes the item, holding in his hands. It’s revealed to be a stone with a metal cord wrapped around the top and a leather necklace cord stringed through the metal cord hole at the top. The stone is a rainbow color with Sky Flame orange being the dominant color. Next to this necklace, is a device the size of Izuku’s palm. The device is a circular screen with a cover in the back, there’s a hole in the bottom vertically, about the size of the stone. “What is it?” Izuku asks.

“It’s a communication device. The screen is the conductor – it connects you to our world and allows you to communicate with us. What will come out of the device, rather than a normal screen, is a hologram, like what you described your world has. You can adjust the size of the hologram, depending on how much Flame output you put into it. The stone acts like a power generator, a sort of power crystal. Tsuna-san has the other stone and screen,” Shouichi explains. Izuku looks up to see Tsuna standing there, a soft smile on his face as he holds up the pendent necklace that had been hidden under his shirt and his other necklace which holds his Vongola ring. Izuku’s face beams in happiness as a smile stretches across his face, from ear-to-ear. “I can still communicate with you and everybody?” Tsuna, Shouichi, and the others nod, smiling.

“Tsuna has the main device, thanks to Sky Flames being the dominant Flame in the stone. But you can communicate with the others if you just focus on a particular Flame in the stone. It will take a lot longer to connect than just contacting Tsuna but it can work,” Shouichi continues explaining. “I call the stone specifically the Vongola’s Other World Communication Pendant. POWCP, for short. I call the communication device itself, the Communications Link or CommLink. You can call it whatever you like though because it is now yours.”

Izuku smiles as he puts the pendent around his neck, hiding it under his shirt, and puts the CommLink into his backpack. He nods in thanks to Shouichi and the other scientists, “Thank you, Shouichi, Spanner, Giannini, and Talbot-san for helping me find a way home.” He turns to Tsuna, “Thank you, my Soulmate, for being here for me and helping me for these past 6 years.” He turns to the everybody watching from behind the barrier and raises his voice so they can hear him, “Thank you, everyone, for training me,” a nod towards Reborn, Iemitsu, and Ryohei, “encouraging me,” a nod towards Chrome, Tsuna, Enma, Takeshi, “and entertaining and engaging with my muttering and ideas,” a nod towards Gokudera, Kyoko, Hana, Lambo, Iemitsu, Tsuna, and Reborn. “Thank you for everything.” There were smiles and tears all around as Tsuna and Shouichi move to behind the barrier and Izuku turned to face the dimension jumping machine.

Tsuna and Izuku both shush and work at keeping their Flames calm and not try to reach out towards the other’s Flames as the scientists activate the machine. The machine starts up and a portal opens in the center, filling up the machine space until it is the size of a Giant-sized double door, circular but touching the platform so Izuku didn’t have to jump into the portal or take that wide of a step to enter it. The inside of the portal was a pool of crystal blue, sky blue, and deep-sea blue, moving and rippling like that of a pool in a cave. Izuku takes a deep breath, bringing up enough of his determination to walk forward and enter the portal but not enough that his Flames surface or shine in his eyes.

Behind the barrier, Tsuna orders his Guardians to grab ahold of him and hold him back from breaking down the barrier and chasing after his love. He hasn’t sure he could stop his Flames from taking over or reaching out for Izuku’s Flames. He didn’t think he could trust himself not to chase after Izuku and let his Flames take over. The Guardians agree and silently pull Tsuna away from the barrier itself and closer to the rest of them. Chrome and Mukuro use their tridents to put in a X in front of Tsuna. Takeshi throws an arm around his shoulders, grounding him. Lambo throws himself at Tsuna’s waist and wraps his arms around him. Iemitsu puts a hand on his back and grips his shirt ready to pull him back in the event that he tries to throw himself but also being silently supportive. Reborn steps in front, still behind the X the Mist Guardians had made, and casually leans against Tsuna’s leg. Gokudera steps closer to Tsuna’s right and grips his arm. Ryohei closes rank on the right, Kyoko and Hana closing rank on the left, Enma steps forward on the left near Mukuro, and Hibari silently takes position on the right, far from the group but close enough that he can act if Tsuna manages to get past the right side’s defense. The scientists keep vigilante watch on the machine and the readings and the portal, ready to step in if complications happen.

They all watch tense, hopeful and sad, as Izuku walks up the steps, breathes in then out, breathes in then walks on the platform and through the portal. They watch with bated breath, waiting for any sign that it failed or Izuku didn’t end up in the right universe or something. The readings stayed the same, the portal closed 30 seconds after Izuku went through, no sign of any malfunctions, and so the scientists silently close the readings and shut down the machine.

Tsuna yells out a cry and gripes his heart. Tears stream down his face as his Family turns to him and focus on comforting him. Then Tsuna takes a shuddering breath, straightens. The Family backs off, watching him carefully as he takes a step, then another step closer to the barrier.

His heart gives another painful lurch as the pain of losing his Soulmate not only through time but even through space. He gives another scream as he drops to his knees, the Family lurching forward in response to their Boss and friend’s pain.

Then Tsuna suddenly collapses, passed out. The Family freaks out, the Guardians immediately running forward to their Sky. Tsuna is quickly sent to the (Vongola-owned) hospital in Namimori.

Meanwhile, a portal opens up on a luckily empty street and out steps Midoriya Izuku. Izuku stumbles slightly as he enters, the gravity and feeling of the universe he’s in now somehow different from the universe he was in before. Izuku stops and takes a moment, standing still with his knees bent and his hands held out, letting his body get use to the feeling of this universe as the portal closes behind him. Once he’s semi-stable, he straightens up and looks around. Izuku notes that it seems to be the middle of the day, he seems to be near a park, and, he looks around and sees a nearby Hero Agency diagonally across the street from his position, the words of the Agency are written in kanji, it appears that he is in his own universe. However, having lived the last 2 years with Reborn and the Chaos he brings, Izuku has heard of the Multiverse Theory and the possible of there not just being your world and then other worlds where you don’t exist but millions upon millions of different versions of yourself and your world. Meaning that just because it looks and feels like his world doesn’t mean he is in his original world before his kidnapping. This meant before he could go home, he needed to find out which part of Japan he is in and whether or not this truly is his world.

Mission objective: Find out if this is his world.

Possible actions: First, find a newspaper and/or ask somebody on the streets what city this is and what the date is. Second, act according to the information given. If in Musutafu, go to the nearest police station, gather information based on police officers’ reaction to hearing your name – decide next course of action after gathering information. If somewhere else in Japan, go to ATM, get cash out of the card Reborn claims will work in any universe – Izuku didn’t want to know –, go to the nearest train or bus station, get a ticket, go to Musutafu, go to the nearest police station, figure everything else out after that.

Izuku nods after figuring out his plan of action and steps forward, taking one step at a time to get used to how his body feels in motion in this world. He walks naturally after only a minute of this, body quickly and easily getting used to walking in this universe. Izuku was not going to thank the spartan that is Reborn for how quickly his body adjusting to the new environment – he was not giving that demon from hell the satisfaction.

As he walks, he realizes with a start that the reason why there were hardly anybody on the street that he was walking isn’t because everybody is at work or home or school like he had assumed but because he is walking down a park road, an unused trail from what he could tell. But then if he’s walking on a park trail, how could he see the hero agency which seemed to be only 3 stories tall, that tall enough to see over the 5 story tall trees?

An explosion sounded, said 5 story tall trees falling down to the ground a little farther away from where he was, near the hero agency he had noted before, giving a clear view of what that street held even with trees surrounding the trail around him. Ah. That was how. Well, if the hero agency hadn’t confirmed that he was at least in the right multiverse, then a villain attack in the park near a hero agency definitely does.

Izuku moved towards the sound of fighting and explosion, years of fighting and learning defense and analyzing how people before Quirks lived and what they studied as well as the 2 years spent researching, analyzing, and theorizing about Dying Will Flames driving Izuku to the fight even before his less-empowering years before the Kidnapping of analyzing Quirks and following hero and villain fights pushed to the forefront and drove him over there. Old habits die hard, especially if you just replaced the Quirk-Analyzing to World-and-Flames-Analyzing.

Next thing Izuku knows, he’s in what appears to be the ‘center’ of the park, or the part of the park that’s closest to the city. Izuku hadn’t seen any skyscrapers on the other side of the park, so assumed that this particular park he’s in is one of the trail-and-hike preservation parks which, if he remembers correctly, covers the rest of the land which Musutafu is on before fading away for the next town that should be a 2-hour speed train ride away. If he remembers correctly. Izuku inwardly grimaces, not liking how faded his memory of _his_ Musutafu is. One more year in Namimori and Izuku feared he would have eventually replaced his memory of Musutafu with Namimori, thinking he had lived there his whole life. In fact, there were times where he got himself actually thinking that.

There is a crowd close to the trails that Izuku walks out from, watching the fight. Izuku walked closer to the edge of the crowd. He didn’t get any closer, feeling a headache and a pain in his chest growing. He put his hand to his chest and rubbed it.

His Flames were crying.

He could feel the brutally torn edges of his and Tsuna’s Bond, torn by space and time without their consent. He ignored it for now, trying to breathe through it. _Oh… this is why I had struggled and stumbled, upon immediately getting here. The Bond had torn._ Izuku thought grimly. A roar, one of great pain and sorrow, burned and resonated through his ear. And he swore that he could hear an answering scream coming from the direction of where the portal had been.

_Tsuna…_

Izuku couldn’t focus on anything that was happening around him. The pain climaxing to a crescendo, he struggles to breath through the pain, telling his Flames over and over again that he will cry out and release his emotions and Flames where it’s safe. _I can’t collapse here; I can’t react here. Please, let me get back to Kaa-san and then we can scream,_ he pleads.

He hadn’t even noticed that the fighting had stopped. There were police and ambulances but he didn’t even recognize that. The crowd was dispersing, enough that a hero noticed Izuku and approached him, considered about his pale complexion and grasping of his heart. She gestured towards the medic and they came forward towards the green-haired boy as well.

Izuku didn’t notice for the pain became too much. He dropped to his knees, unable to breathe and crying. Finally, his eyes moved to the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground.

The hero cries out and she and the medics run to him.

Bright green eyes open then shut, blinking quickly then slowly at the bright lights as his eyes adjust. Izuku looks at the white ceiling above him, confused. He recognizes the white ceiling and the smell of antiseptic as a hospital and wonders why he was in the hospital. Then he abruptly remembers what happened and shot up. He immediately winces in pain and grips his chest, breathing in and out as his Flames give another shriek of pain at being separated from his Soul Sky. _We will see each other again, Sky,_ he promises his Flames, _and when that happens, we will be a hero who saves everyone._ His Flames settle eventually, after more reutterance of this promise, taking the promise and imprinting it into Izuku’s heart so that he doesn’t forget the promise or his Love. _We will see each other again_ , he repeats to his doubting mind. 6 years are not easy to forget, especially not the past 2 years. The Flames disappear to his core after imprinting the promise. Izuku can breathe again without pain.

(Tsuna made the same promise back in the KHR world the minute he wakes up. The presence of his Guardians, and Shouichi and Spanner’s promise of creating a machine that will let them easily travel between the two worlds, making it easier to convince his Flames. But, like Izuku’s Flames had, they took the promise and imprinted it into Tsuna’s very heart so that he may not forget.)

The door opens, Izuku looking up. In walks a doctor and someone that Izuku assumes is a detective. Though why they needed a detective for Izuku when he hadn’t even actually witnessed the fighting beyond the explosions and sounds of fighting was beyond him. He said as much to the detective. “If you’re a detective and you’re here to ask me questions about the fight, I can’t tell you anything for I didn’t even see the actual fight. By the time I got there from hearing the explosions and seeing the trees go down, the fighting was coming to a close.”

The square-jawed detective blinks in confusion then realization. “What? … Oh! No, I’m not hear to ask about the fight that had happened before your collapse. I’m actually here to ask you some questions about you. And why you look like an older version of one of the missing kids I’ve been assigned to look for,” the detective answered. The doctor, before Izuku could reply, says in slight annoyance, “Before that, would you kindly let me look after my patient?” The detective blushes slightly and backs up, moving to the side, and letting the doctor do his job.

The doctor checks his vitals, temperature, and body movement. “Ok, you seem physically fine and our initial scans had turned up nothing to explain why you had collapsed. Do you know why, young man?”

Izuku bit his lip, worrying it slightly. He decides against telling them or explaining to them about the Bond and responses simply, “I think it had to do with my Quirk. I’m a late bloomer and have only recently gotten started on working with or training my Quirk – like within only 2 years or so. My Quirk showed signs of itself earlier but we hadn’t realized it was my Quirk until recently. I hadn’t yet figured out my Quirk’s limit due to the Quirk usage laws and restrictions, I hadn’t used my Quirk at all this past week so I can only assume my Quirk might have just reacted badly to being so close to explosions and fire.”

“Ok, so you think it’s Quirk related.”

“Yes,” Izuku nods and explains further, stretching the truth a bit about Dying Will Flames, “From what I can tell, it’s focused around my heart and spreads throughout my body. It’s a kind of Fire-like Energy – that’s the best way I can describe it. However, my body isn’t naturally built to handle this energy, it’s a slow built-up that needs to take place, get my body use to the feeling and the power. The fire and explosions kind of freaked my F – Quirk out. I just felt this burning and overwhelming sensation and pain like my heart had been torn in half. My Quirk felt like it wanted to come out, to play with the fire and explosions that were flying through the air. I tried to suppress and tell it no and it responsed by causing me to collapse and pass out from the pain.”

“Your Quirk is sentient?”

Izuku shrugs, “I don’t know. That’s the best way that I could describe what had happened that caused the collapse. I don’t know how else to explain it, all I know is that I don’t know everything there is to know about my Quirk and there is much for me to grow and learn from it, and it from I.”

The doctor sighs, frustrated with the cryptic answers but too tired to call the kid out. Either way, having a sudden collapse despite being perfectly healthy and fit was definitely traumatic, especially if it truly was caused by his Quirk like the kid believes, so the doctor wasn’t going to argue. Sentient Quirks are rare, sure, but not so rare or impossible for the kid’s story to not be true. The detective with the lie-detector Quirk hadn’t called the kid out so the doctor can only assume that the kid was telling the truth, at least the kid’s version of the truth.

“Once last question for the record so that we can put it in your record and call your parents, what’s your name?” the doctor asks.

“Midoriya Izuku,” the green-haired kid answers. The detective straightens even further than he had been and stares at the kid in shock and surprise. Well, if that didn’t tell the doctor that it truly was the kid’s name and their DNA test hadn’t failed them like they had initially thought, then the kid’s answer was the truth. Which meant that after 6 years of being missing and thought dead, Midoriya Izuku was back. 14-years-old, instead of the 8 he had been when he went missing, and healthy, untraumatized from what he could tell (then again, he was a physical doctor not a mental one so he couldn’t exactly say for sure that the kid wasn’t traumatized even with his years in the ER).

The doctor decided that, while he was glad to know that the missing kid who had captured the heart of Musutafu and its attention for 6 years was back and healthy, he was not in the mood to hear the kid’s story. He had done his job and had other patients which he could already hear his name being called for help. So, he left the room and left the investigative stuff to the actual detective, making sure the file was placed in its proper area.

The detective sat down in the chair on the side of the hospital bed and introduced himself. “Hello, my name is Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. I am a detective here in Musutafu and I was the one assigned to your case, Midoriya-kun.”

“Which one?” Izuku replies, amused. “Both the one where you collapsed and the one that your mother, Midoriya Inko, called in when you went missing. Technically speaking, they are one case. I was called in after they did a DNA test while you were unconscious to find your emergency contact and medical history file and discovered your missing case file.”

Izuku sighs and leans back into the bed, knowing where the detective’s questions are going to go and both not wanting to relive that experience – he had already gone through the therapy sessions, damnit, Tsuna and Izuku didn’t talk about it outside of those sessions for a reason! He was recovered but that doesn’t mean he wants to talk about it – and also not wanting to accidently reveal how Tsuna and the others’ existence, much less who they truly were.

“Now, I will be honest with you. I have a lie-detector quirk meaning that I can tell when you’re telling the truth or not, and I, unfortunately, cannot turn it off. However, I will still ask you if it is ok for me to use it during this questioning session,” Naomasa informs the 14-year-old. Izuku blinks, amazed by such a quirk. Questions and theories already start to burn through his head but he pushes the instinct to ask questions about the quirks aside in favor of telling the detective he didn’t mind, especially seeing as he couldn’t turn the darn thing off anyways, but was thankful that he was asking for consent despite this inability to turn it off.

Detective Tsukauchi nods, grateful that he doesn’t have to ignore or block the pinging sounds of his Quirk going off (a migraine he was thankful he didn’t have to deal with).

“Before we start,” Izuku asks, “What’s the date? I lost track of time and hadn’t been able to ask anybody yet.”

“Uh? Eto,” Naomasa checks the date on his phone, “It’s Saturday, April 19, 22XX.”

“Ok, thanks,” Izuku thanks him as he mentally calculates how long that is from the UA Entrance Exam and also how long that means he has been gone from his home universe. _22XX? That means that the next Entrance Exam should be in about more or less 12 months because the Entrance Exam doesn’t happen until April with applications sent out by the middle schools 6 months before hand. Depending on how long I’ve been gone, I will either be added in with my own age group, the same group I would’ve been with had I not been kidnapped, or with a group technically younger than me because time is apparently much slowly in Tsuna’s universe than mine. In Tsuna’s world, I was kidnapped in 2006, in my world, I was kidnapped in 22XX. 6 years past since in Tsuna’s world but that doesn’t mean that six years passed here –_

His thought process got interrupted by Naomasa saying, “You’ve been gone for 6 years.”

Izuku’s head snaps to him and he so eloquently replies with, “Eh?”

“Your mother, during the initial investigation and search and rescue for you, told me how you wanted to be a hero, despite your Quirkless status. Told me how you wanted to save people with a smile and was most likely planning on trying out at UA Entrance Exam. I saw your expression and thus assumed that you were trying to calculate the difference between your kidnapping and now, and how long you have till the next exam. Am I correct?” Naomasa summarizes his own deduction to Izuku’s thought process.

“Uh, Was I um… mumbling?” Izuku asks hesitantly. Naomasa nods his head, amused yet unbothered after spending years with heroes who have their own individual quirks to help them handle the life of a hero. A blush burns itself onto Izuku’s cheeks and ears, slowly covering his entire face as he once again sits in embarrassed silence after realizing that his thought processes had been heard.

Then what the detective had said got up with Izuku’s brain. “Wait, had I really been missing for only 6 years?”

The detective nodded his head.

Izuku slumps back into the seat, stunned that the only time difference being that Tsuna’s world was at least 6 months ahead.

“Let’s move on to the questions,” Naomasa suggests. Izuku nods in agreement, still shocked.

“Can you describe what happened to you on the day you went missing?”

“Um, I was walking home from school by myself. Kacchan usually went home with me, we leaved in the same neighborhood after all, but he had to leave early due to… I think he had a doctor’s appointment that day.” Naomasa nods, the Bakugou’s witness testimony had said the same thing to explain why Katsuki wasn’t there like usual. “I – I think I heard something. I can’t tell you what, it’s – the sound I heard, I can’t – it’s not something that can be described, heck, I barely even remember what I heard – I’m pretty sure the only reason why I still remember what it sounds like is because the sound echoed in my ears for weeks after I first heard it. And I _know_ it wasn’t a normal neighborhood sound because it’s not something that – that _belongs_ , that’s the best way I can describe it… Anyways, I heard the sound, looked up, and the next thing I know, I’m in a fast moving train with another brown-haired kid, unconscious next to me, with both of us chained to the wall. I – I remember being scared and then just assuming that it had been a Villain or Villains who had kidnapped me and this other random kid who I know for certain hadn’t been with me on that street. Which lead to me assuming that I had been unconscious for a long time, long enough for them to get out of the neighborhood without alerting the heroes or anybody of their existence or my kidnapping, long enough for them to kidnap another kid and throw the both of us onto a train.” Naomasa was speedily taking notes as Izuku, for the first time since his last therapy session and for the first time ever according to this world, talks about what had happened to him all those years ago. “I – It becomes a blur of pain, torture, running away, getting to know my fellow kidnappee, and the pain of having a mental bond forcibly put upon us. Only one Villain had ever shown himself, a Villain with some kind of a mental Quirk – I remember this Villain because he had been the one who had tried to torment us at the same time with literal mental abuse, the one who had forced us to connect to each other and create a bond just to escape the pain. I – We did it to protect ourselves, didn’t even think about what it meant to have a mental bond formed that wasn’t supposed to exist. That – that Villain, he made it seem as if he was the only one there, the only Villain – but… somehow both I and the other kid, whom I learned was named Tsuna, we knew that there were others. They never showed themselves or made any indication that they existed but we just knew. That guy with a mental Quirk, he knew what we were thinking – so with our newly formed bond, we created a secret language, our own code, in our minds to communicate safely both in the outside world and in our own heads. Tsuna and I planned our escape during the moments of reprieve – when the Villain wasn’t torturing us or in the same cart as us. Then, I think weeks after our initial kidnapping, we escaped. Somehow, despite the pain from our wounds and the wounds themselves and our tiredness and desperate wish to lay down and sleep, we managed to escape to Tsuna’s hometown, get to Tsuna’s home where Tsuna’s mom and dad and his co – friends waited for news about what had happened to Tsuna. We got sent to the hospital and healed there.” Izuku pauses for a moment, coughs, Naomasa hands him the glass of water which had been resting on the table next to the bed. Izuku sips it as he thinks about how to explain why he hadn’t come home earlier in a plausible way without revealing that he had been in an entirely different world, somehow unable to accept the idea of letting this world become aware of Tsuna’s world, especially the heroes and the detective before him. He definitely is going to have to hide Iemitsu and his cowor - friends’ true job, he is not telling them about Reborn or the Guardians or anything about that world really. _Hm, if they ask about Iemitsu-san’s work, which excuse should I use that cause Detective Naomasa’s Quirk to ping? Definitely not construction worker. Nor a Pro Hero, that might cause a search for a non-existent Underground Hero. Military? Specifically US Military?... That could work. Which branch?... Marine? Special Ops? Maybe. I didn’t give him last names so US Marines and let’s go with the Special Ops – they sometimes have to do special undercover missions which explains long disappearances and the weeks of absence Iemitsu had to do as compromised to him living and staying in Namimori. Now, how to explain why I hadn’t come home 6 years earlier in a plausible way that would explain my appearing in a park and why I hadn’t come home earlier…_ Izuku sets the cup down and sighs, idea for a plausible reason finally coming to mind. _Sorry, Tsuna, Mama._

“Ok, that explains your disappearance. What it doesn’t explain is why it took you 6 years to come home.” Naomasa states after letting Izuku compose himself. Then a thought occurs to him, “This Tsuna… His family didn’t force you to stay upon finding out about this bond between you two?” _In response to finding out about your Quirklessness_ , Naomasa adds silently in his head. So far, the kid’s story hasn’t pinged which means he’s telling the truth, but that also means that there are gaps in his memory because he couldn’t explain how the actual Kidnapping happened after hearing a noise nor how he and the other kid ended up on a train and being tortured while having a mental bond forced upon him and this Tsuna character.

“NO!” Izuku shouts, outraged at the very accusation towards the people who had helped him all these years. His heart monitor jumps and spikes with his sudden outburst. Naomasa raises his hands placantly.

“Ok, that’s a no then.” Naomasa soothes. “I’m sorry, Midoriya-kun, I just had to ask – touch all the bases, you know?”

Izuku, still slightly red in the face, calms down. He takes a couple of breathes to calm down. “I didn’t know where or even when I was. All I knew was that the town of Namimori, as far as my 8-year-old self was aware and had last checked, didn’t exist on any map of Japan, in Musutafu that is. They didn’t even have any Quirks. I met a couple of animals there that seemed to have a cleverness unique to Namimori but other than that, nothing like the Quirks the rest of the world had. Their dates all seemed to be backwards and there was no way in or out, even though outsiders and visitors came by all the time. Namimori was a strange place, even without Quirks, and all the citizens seem to agree on that and in keeping Namimori strange. That’s why I couldn’t go home. Because, according to Tsuna and all the other citizens I talked to and interacted with, Namimori has claimed me. Namimori was my home. The reality though was that, no it wasn’t. Even if it accepted my own weirdness, weirdness that here was actually pretty normal, and all of me, it wasn’t home. I couldn’t become a Hero there even if I did save people.”

“By strangeness, what exactly do you mean? You mentioned something about the dates being weird?”

Izuku looks at Naomasa, a mischievous yet dark spark lighting up in his eyes. “Don’t bother looking for Namimori. If it doesn’t want to be seen or found, it won’t be.”

Nothing pinged. Naomasa feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, a chill running through him as he realizes that Izuku was telling the truth – this town that doesn’t exist according to the maps and the internet will not be found. Not even to make sure Izuku’s story was true.

“…Okay. …anything else to further explain why it took you 6 years to come home?”

“Yes,” Izuku nods, “The Bond. According to Iemitsu, Tsuna’s dad, it would be disastrous, for both Tsuna and I and the people around us, if we were to be separated so soon after the bond had been formed, even though it had been weeks since the initial formation. He also explained that the bond was going to keep us connected through time and space as long as we kept up maintence with it. But he also warned against leaving each other behind, whether that’s literally or metaphorically, because it could lead to us going into a coma or worse. That’s why I stayed for 6 years. But there’s also the fact that, as Tsuna and Mama – or Nana, Tsuna’s mother –, had explained it, it would be a long time before Namimori will let me go.”

A few more questions are asked after that with Izuku answering with more and more cryptic answers which, unknown to Naomasa, was typical of a Namimori resident.

Naomasa left Izuku and the hospital with more questions than answers, but also with the promise that Izuku had forced him to make that the only thing he would report on would be the Kidnapping – not mention Tsuna or Namimori, only write in the report that Midoriya Izuku had been kidnapped, had been stuck in the hands of those Villains for 5 years before he had finally managed to escape, and had simply been on the run for months until he had been found in that park. Izuku’s clothes and body had been dirty and torn enough (from the dimension hopping), with an old, messed up backpack, for this report to be plausible. It just left Naomasa with even more questions than he had initially had but he wasn’t one to break a promise, and he reasoned that Midoriya probably wanted to protect his friend, Tsuna, from the media onslaught his return after 6 years of being missing will bring.

Meanwhile, Izuku took a 3 hour nap during which time his mother was informed about his return, given the same explanation that Izuku had wished the detective to make in his report for his disappearance, rushed to tell the Bakugous, then rushed to the hospital. To Izuku’s room.

The hospital room nearly flooded with the tears of the reunited Midoriya Family. The hospital hallway nearly flooded with the tears of the reunited Midoriya Family when Midoriya Hisashi rushes to the hospital and the hospital room half-an-hour after Midoriya Inko.

The once again three-person family didn’t let go of each other for a long time.

(And yes, the hospital did indeed nearly threat to throw the two parents out if they tried to flood the hospital again. It didn’t stop the tears but it at least stopped the flooding.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tears. There were a ton of tears made by the Midoriya Family - and yes, Hisashi is in the picture. His work allowed him to live in Japan and near his family after Izuku's disappearance, which he was not happy that it took his son's disappearance for them to let him return and stay with his family.


	4. Old-New World and Conflicting Information

The moment he was home and had a moment to himself, within his old room of which his family hadn’t touched beyond cleaning and making sure the bed will work for him, he pulls out the device from his backpack. He connects the pendant to its place and turns the device on. Setting it down on his bed in front of him, he scouts back and waits. Breath held, hoping against everything else that it will connect.

It connects and a hologram image of his lover, Tsuna, appears before him in static-y way before clearing up and the blue of the hologram washes over the dark room. Tsuna smiles upon seeing Izuku and Izuku responses with his own happy, teary-eyed smile.

“Tsuna!”

“Izuku!” They both desperately wish they could hug each other but, terrified doing such a thing will disconnect the device and they will lose each other again, they stuck to their positions and just simply drank each other’s appearances in.

Izuku speaks up after a moment and catches Tsuna up as to everything that had happened since he left.

“You collapsed?”

“After a while of walking, yes. What about you? I got the feeling that it was coming from our Bond, a sort of delayed reaction towards such a long-distance separation,” Izuku hesitantly hypothesizes.

Tsuna nods in agreement, “That’s what Reborn hypothesized as well once I woke up.”

“So, you collapsed as well.”

“Yes, but for me, it was as you were leaving. Like the moment the portal closed, I was unconscious and in pain.”

“Hmm. Then the Bond must have allowed my body to appear in the other universe and adjust to being back in my true world before it gave a reaction to the Separation,” Izuku mutters, “Otherwise, I most likely would have collapsed at the same time as you had and then ended up in the wrong universe or worse – possibly dead and my corpse wandering the InBetween of the Multiverse.” Tsuna shudders, glad that the Reaction had delayed itself for Izuku and that his lover is still alive.

Both of them flinch in unison as their Flames give another bursting scream of pain at being separated. Tsuna takes some shuddering breathes and recovers, then flinches in surprise upon seeing Izuku laying forward with his head on the bed covers (? He’s pretty sure those are bed covers), gripping his heart and breathing heavily in pain. The hologram image of Izuku flicks as his Flames lash and oozes out of him at different intervals.

“IZUKU!” Tsuna shouts in alarm, hands raised towards Izuku and shaking, feeling useless as his boyfriend suffers before him and being unable to help. Tsuna grimaces and clenches his teeth, hating the feeling that harshly reminds him of his life before Izuku, Reborn, and his Guardians.

Then he remembers something Shouichi had told him about the pendant. _“If you ever find yourself in need of Izuku’s Flames or Izuku in need of your Flames, just pour the Flames into the pendant. Separated by Time and Space or not, it will transfer your Flames, especially if you infuse the Flames and the Pendant itself with your Will.”_

Tsuna quickly places a hand on his pendant, focuses on his Flames, soothing them to the best of his abilities, then carefully sending them into the Pendant with his Will and the wish to soothe and calm.

Back with Izuku, he raises his head, sensing Flames that he recognizes and sees the pendant glowing a soft, warm orange. His breathing calms down and he straightens as he reaches a hand and touches the pendant. Izuku is immediately flooding with Tsuna’s Will and warmth, he sends his own Flames through the pendant in thanks with his Will and warmth. A smile blossoms on his face as his Flames return to his core, soothed and calm for the time being by his Soulmate.

Tsuna’s own face beams with a soft smile of his own, his Flames slowly returning to his own core, soothed and calm for the time being by his Soulmate. Tsuna can sense that his Guardians had sent their own Flames into their pendants to support and help soothe Izuku’s Flames, most likely sensing their turmoil and sending their Will to help them out.

They both remove their hands and take a moment to recover from another attack from their Flames.

“Everything is so different yet so familiar, I don’t know what to think. While I was in the hospital, with the staff’s, Mom’s, and Dad’s help, I managed to get caught up with current events from the time I disappeared to now,” Izuku later tells Tsuna, now laying on his back and looking at the ceiling. “So much has happened, yet nothing’s changed. I’m not even back in school, yet I feel this way.”

“I don’t blame you,” Tsuna replies, snorting, “We lived a relatively normal life, even with the strangeness that is Namimori, until last year when Reborn showed up. Ton of crazy and impossible things happened, yet it feels normal now. Almost your world’s level of normal.”

Izuku laughs slightly, “Normal? This world’s normal is so different yet so similar to the normal I experienced back in Namimori, minus Quirks, that it feels like I’m getting whiplash every time I turn on the news. I keep half expecting to hear on news about Ken’s latest mishap, or what Hayato’s blown up now in the name of science, or which mafia group or criminal gang got brutally murdered by Hibari and his Disciplinary Committee, or what Byakuran’s latest marshmallow scheme was. But instead I hear about the latest failed experiment of the Hero Commission, different new Pro Hero’s debuts, this week’s villain attacks and where to look out for them or what areas got affected, information and interviews about one of the Top Ten Pro Heroes, the latest Major Villain’s grand scheme and what they’re going to do. … In some ways, it’s like I’m back with y’all, but in other ways… I couldn’t be more further away.”

Tsuna closes his eyes and hovers a hand right over Izuku’s hologram hair, leaving it there and wishing he could brush his hands through his Hero’s hair once more. “It feels the same way here. All of us, even Tou-san with his emotional difficulties, keep turning towards where you would be, about to ask or remark something to you, only to find you not there. I can keep turning on the news, half expecting to hear about your latest adventure in the woods that keep trying to drag you into its arms or the latest experiment you and Hayato made, bracing myself for the mental calculations of how much money Timoteo-jisan’s gonna make me pay for the resulting damages and the heart attacks you and my chaos-loving and chaotic Guardians love to bring me. Only to not hear of any such reports like normal. … It’s such a strange reality we’re living right now, isn’t it, Ku?”

Izuku’s eyes were sorrowful yet laugh-filled, “None of us expected this weird limbo we’re living away from each other, did we? 6 years we lived together, all the chaos we experienced during that last year, yet none of us ever thought about what something like that will bring us upon being separated.”

Reborn, muffled from Izuku’s perspective, spoke up before Tsuna could reply, “If you don’t stop with the negativity and self-pitying soon, I’m coming over and shoot you in the name of training til you collapse. Same with you, Dame-Tsuna. Except with you, I won’t have to dimension-jump.” A cocking of the gun sounds as Tsuna shrieks in panic and wildly waves him off.

Izuku breaks down laughing. Classic Reborn.

But also, knowing full well that Reborn would figure out a way to dimension-jump and train him until he drops by shooting at him, Izuku desperately kicks out the self-pity and sorrow. Izuku will never admit to Tsuna or any of the others, but the main – actual – reason, other than wanting to see his birth family and become a hero, he jumped at the chance to return was to escape Reborn, stopping Reborn from being able to drag him finally and completely, kicking and screaming, into the mafia. …Though, Tsuna would definitely understand and probably demand why the heck Izuku hadn’t brought him with him to escape Reborn. Sorry, Tsuna, but you belong in that dimension and Reborn as well as all of Vongola would just dimension-hop over to this world and drag you, kicking and screaming, back to your world.

“I’m so glad my suffering makes you so happy, Ku,” Tsuna dryly comments, sizzling.

“A piece of your hair is on fire,” Izuku puts out, eyes twinkling. Tsuna yelps as he pinches his hair and wildly waves his hands through his hair to stop any other fires. Izuku giggles at the display.

They continue to chat for a few minutes more before Inko calls Izuku down for dinner and Reborn forces Tsuna to get back to his homework.

Reborn reminds Izuku to call him soon to inform him and the others about how different and similar what is taught in his world compared to their world. Izuku confirms that he will and, reluctantly, Tsuna and Izuku cut the connection.

Izuku hides the device in his desk drawer, puts his pendent back around his neck and hidden under his shirt, then walks up to the door, opens it, and walks out for family dinner.

Logically speaking, it shouldn’t be possible for Izuku to catch up on 6 years’ worth of education within 12 months before an exam, ignoring the physical training he went through for an entire year before coming home. Logically speaking, Reborn doesn’t give two fucks and forces Izuku to do just that.

Comparing the differences and similarities between worlds’ education, and how much that education changes after a particular world-changing event, apparently really helps one with changing and tweaking the 6 years’ worth of education Izuku had originally gotten with what he would have gotten.

Gokudera, within an hour of being introduced to what Izuku’s world teaches their children compared to his world, calls Izuku’s world’s education system “war propaganda with a thinly veiled mask of heroes and villains which is actually propaganda for the dangerous mindset of ‘us vs. them’.”

Izuku would have protested the heroes and villains part but after years of being disconnected from his world, growing up Quirkless in a Quirk-obsessed society, then growing up Quirkless in a Quirkless society, and being raised in an education system not littered with Quirk-related lessons and teachings… Izuku can’t really protest without being a hypocrite. After living years separated from the “propaganda” as Hayato calls it, now that he’s back, the signs of a society created off over propaganda, capitalism, and the ‘us vs. them’ mindset is just screaming and obvious at him. Most of the Heroes who are only in it for the celebrity points and the money for money’s sake – which is pretty much 99.9% of Hero Society outside of the Underground – aren’t even bothering to hide it set up.

Reborn, meanwhile, despises how different the education systems are, even when he added the mafia school’s education system. In the case of science, it’s the exact same, if the school you’re going to ignored the Quirk sciences developed with the development of Quirk, with minor and major changes in Biology and Human Anatomy & Physiology for the people with Mutant Quirks. In the case of math, it’s the same across the board, much to Izuku’s relief who didn’t feel like suffering through a crash course version of 6 years’ worth of math stuff that he’d already studied – he’ll have to come up with an explanation as to how he already knows this kind of math but he’s still relieved. He may have been young but he still has unpleasant memories of Math Class Before The Kidnapping (it pains him to call the past 6 years that but that’s basically what it was for everybody else). History’s severely different, even when you include the mafia’s history, much to Izuku’s frustration who now has to relearn all the 6 years’ worth of history lessons he missed crash course style which might not even hold him together. He’s just glad that the events before the Age of Quirks, which caused everything to be lost, are relatively the same if you ignore little differences and ignore everything that happens after the 1990s (the time when information begins to become sketchy then completely lost until the first Villains and Heroes as his world knows them raise up, and the first Pro-Quirks Law was written up in Japan). Fine Arts courses had to be redefined and changed completely to fit the needs of all the students, especially those with Mutant Quirks. Not to mention the World of Psychology – utter chaos for them. Philosophy and Ethics, surprisingly enough, didn’t have to be changed all that much; in the end, for philosophy and ethics, the problems were the same as they’ve always been but with the added bonus/death row of superpowers in terms of ways one can die and what that means ethically and philosophically. Celebrities, still money, sucess and fame obsessed; politicians still, fame, success and votes-to-stay-in-power obsessed; same old fear of death with just more ways to die added to the already existent ways to die; existential crises still getting triggered by people who just won’t stop questioning reality, made worse by the people with Quirks designed specifically for that purpose. So, yeah, same old bullshit for philosophy and ethics. P.E. and sports stayed relatively the same outside of Hero and Mafia schools. Lots of changes yet lots of not changes to the education system compared to Namimori and the Mafia’s education system. Izuku still hasn’t forgiven Reborn for including him in the Mafia education and not telling him or Tsuna that that was half of the stuff he was teaching them outside of their school work. He really, really hope these next 10 months will be enough to de-train him from all of those mafia lessons in time for UA, if he gets in, he really, really doesn’t want to explain what had actually happened to him during his kidnapping and really hopes that detective who had visited him the first few days in the hospital hasn’t told anyone of his actual account. The hospital had forced him to stay for 2 months after realizing his Quirkless status, learning it was a Quirk that had caused him to pass out, then finding all of the wounds he had managed to gather in the past 6 years – most being from the past year which they had, thankfully, assumed had come from running away – plus the signs of old infections and old sicknesses which he should not have add if he had been given all of his vaccines – they realized he didn’t after learning about his kidnapping and apparent escape and year of being on the run. They made him stay for 2 months in response to catch him up on the 6 years’ of vaccines he had missed on top of fixing both the wounds that had never really gotten the chance to heal properly (thanks Shamal) and the wounds which got stretched and worked up and added to (thanks Reborn). On top of monitoring him for any signs of any remaining Quirk residue which was obviously what had caused him to pass out during that Villain Attack (of course it couldn’t have been his own Quirk attacking him for Quirk exhaustion like he had explained, he doesn’t have a Quirk after all). Izuku really, really preferred it when the staff hadn’t bothered to check his record during his mandatory Blood Test a few days after the detective’s visit, they believed him then when he had explained it as simple Quirk backlash/exhaustion. Izuku once again curses the law which requires Quirk registry, while he’s grateful for the chance in catching up on all the vaccines he had missed and wasn’t able to take – different worlds and time periods, different vaccines in response to different sicknesses -, he wasn’t happy about the lack of respect and dismissal of his opinion. Eventually, he had gotten so sick of it by the end of his first month back, he had purposefully set himself on fire with his own Flames while a bunch of nurses and doctors were coming in and out of his room just to prove to them that he really did have a Quirk and it really had come during his Kidnapping aka he really truly was a Late Bloomer ( _Yes, I can._ Izuku thinks viciously to the doctor who had told him he couldn’t be a Hero as he watches in satisfaction and vicious victory at all the doctors and nurses who were proven that the registry was wrong for once.)

Later on, with his dad’s help, Izuku walks into the office of that doctor who had diagnosed him as Quirkless.

Izuku looked that doctor right in the eye and said, “You told a 4-year-old he couldn’t. You believed a simple X-ray and didn’t do anything else to prove I didn’t. You told my little kid self that I was Quirkless and I would never be a Hero.” The doctor nods, remembering the kid, surprisingly enough. Izuku smiles. “Well. I say to you…”

Lifts his right hand up, palm facing the ceiling. He keeps smiling.

As a fire crown appears above his brow, his eyes turn orange, and a fire bursts from his hand, burning away merrily. Izuku’s smile turns vicious as it widens, orange eyes burning into the doctor’s soul. “Yes, I can.” The doctor straightens up immediately, staring wide-eyed and slack jawed.

Hisashi snorts, a puff of smoke pouring out of his mouth and nose as he stares proudly at his son for finally getting revenge on the doctor who had ruined 10 years of his life. He leans against the wall and waits, knowing that this is something Izuku needed to do.

“It’s trigger activated, idiot. You never bothered to test if my Quirk might be latent or might need specific activation requirements. I had to be _kidnapped_ in order to figure out my Quirk! _Kidnapped and almost died!_ ” Izuku snarls to him, “10 years of my life ruined, because you couldn’t be bothered to _do your damn job right_!” The doctor tries to interject but Izuku steamrolls past him, the fire grows and becomes a campfire in Izuku’s hand, perfectly calm as he says, “Well… I’m going to become a Hero. I’m going to save people. The first group of people I’m going to save are the people who would have used your clinic to find out their Quirks.”

The doctor’s mouth moves up and down before he manages to choke out a “What…?” Hisashi steps forward then and moves his jacket to the side, revealing the badge attached to his belt. Then he calmly pulls out his ID card which is actually a Hero Card, identifying Midoriya Hisashi as an Underground Hero and an MPD Consultant/Part-Time Detective. The doctor’s eyes widen further and he looks between Izuku and Hisashi desperately before turning to Izuku, wild eyed now.

“What do you need me to do?”

Izuku smiles softly, flame burning out and his eyes returning to its normal green color. “I don’t know you for anything.” The door opens and in comes 2 police officers and another Underground Hero. The doctor jumps, shaking his head, then turns and runs towards the window (they’re on the first floor). Hisashi rolls his eyes, breathes in, then breathes out a stream of fire that immediately separate into two streams and circle the doctor, entrapping him in two rings of fire. The doctor stops running, feeling the heat from the fire circles. The other Underground Hero steps forward and raises a hand. They squeeze their hand, immediately the fire rings smooth out and harden into molten lava then metal. They close around and clamp onto the doctor once their molten lava, the doctor shrieks from the pain as they harden into metal. He drops, withering uselessly on the floor from the pain of hot metal. The two officers walk calmly towards the downed doctor; one put her palm on the doc’s neck and the doc passes out immediately, the other raises their hand in a triangle shape and a stream of ice and snow spray down on the doc’s form, cooling the metal but also causes steam to rise.

“That’s gonna leave a mark,” The other Underground Hero remarks, plainly. “Good.” Hisashi says coldly, “It’ll be a reminder for him then.”

“Ya know,” Izuku speaks up as Hisashi and him turn to leave, “I just wanted to scare him a bit, revoke his license, the usual of what you do when a doctor ruins your life. Ya’ll were the ones who decided he needed to be arrested.”

“It’s illegal what he did to you, so he’s getting more than just his license revoked,” the police officer with an Ice Quirk speaks up as they unceremoniously drags the doctor’s body between them and their partner out the door and the clinic, the Underground Hero staying behind to gather discriminatory evidence. “We’ve got like several similar cases of what happened to you on top of many, many missing/disappearing cases involving people who had come to his clinic, not just in this precinct. What he did to you is 2 years of jail plus a 1,800,000 yen fine, everything else…” Their partner picks up, “That’s 145 years in jail, zero good-behavior parole, if you add up all of the cases against him by their years in jail, plus a 45,000,000,000,000 yen fine.”

Hisashi turns towards them as they shove the doctor into the squad car and slams the door. “Why the hell did nobody say anything or investigate sooner?” She shrugs. “Nobody’s ever spoken up or tried to revoke his license in response towards his malmedicine. He’s helped heal many politicians’ children and register their Quirks in this area alone. Most didn’t even connect the disappearances with his clinic until Midoriya, your child, spoke up about what the doctor had told him, about his childhood friend’s friend’s disappearance which happened a few months before his own kidnapping, about his Quirk possibly coming in late not only because of a specific trigger but because of the doctor’s words and the diagnose and the bullying – why would you try and look for something which wasn’t even there in the first place? People started to question how many other misdiagnoses were made by the clinic, the detectives working the individual missing/disappearance cases started to take note of the similarities between their cases.”

Her partner adds, “Kind of hard to realize there’s even a problem when nobody speaks up or when nobody even realizes or understands that what was being done was a problem.”

The Underground Hero comes out, carrying three boxes with several other boxes floating behind them tied to him by a metal chain. The police officer opens the truck of the squad car. Hisashi, the officers, and Izuku help the other Hero with putting the boxes into the truck. The Hero pats his hands together, wiping them as the officers close the truck door.

“That’s all the discriminatory evidence I could find,” The Hero explains as they step back onto the curb. The police officers get into the car and turn it on, waiting for the other Underground Hero’s signal to go (Hero escort to protect the car, suspects, and officers from any possible Villain who might try and set the suspect free). “Nothing on the computers?” Hisashi frowns as the unknown hero shakes their head.

“That’s actually pretty smart,” Izuku speaks up as he stares at the clinic which started the mess his life became since the age of 4. The two Heroes turn to look at Izuku as he continues, “Paper trail it may be. But paper trail with no hard drive or Internet back up? If clinic gets set ablaze or something happens to the clinic that ruins everything, with a paper trail as the only proof of you doing something illegal…”

“Everything would disappear,” the two Heroes realize. Izuku nods his head as he turns to look up at his father (damn you and your 6’3” tall body, Izuku curses his short height and his dad’s tall height. Looking up eventually starts to hurt, damnit!). “There would be nothing to prove accusations of hurt clients or bring any license revoking actions against the doctor or his clinic. …Unfortunately for him, he didn’t calculate the possibility of his mistake coming to bite him in the ass in the form of a kid he had diagnosed Quirkless years ago coming back with proof of his lies in the form of a Quirk he shouldn’t have according to his toe joint, who also just so happens to have an Underground Hero/Police Consultant with Connections as a father.” The two Heroes snigger in response as the second Underground Hero taps the squad car’s top to signal a ‘go ahead’. The police car moves away while the Hero waves good bye, runs then slams their metal shield on to the ground, hops on it, and takes to the sky, flying after the squad car.

Hisashi and Izuku face each other then the clinic. Izuku activate HDWM as they walk closer to the clinic. On a count of 3 once they are close enough to where pedestrians won’t get hit in the crossfire, they set fire to the clinic (local council gave the okay after all the proof had been presented before them). It had been very liberating for Izuku to watch that place go up in flames, he may or may not have let loose a few hysterical laughs of relief and pain as he watched the place go up. Hisashi understood what he must be feeling, having felt the same way when he had set fire to his own childhood home after the falling out with his fath – _that man_ , so he didn’t say anything and let Izuku have his closure after years of internalization and discrimination. He deserves this moment at least.

Izuku is walking home after getting the groceries when he heard a voice call out. At first, he didn’t realize it was for him, until the sounds of running footsteps caught his attention and then a yell,

“DEKU?!”

Izuku pauses and blinks. He knew that voice.

The footsteps stop a few feet behind. He turns around.

A kid in a middle school uniform – a black blazer, unbuttoned, black trousers, black dress shoes, and a white dress shirt, the left pocket of the blazer has a white line on it presumably the pocket’s entrance. Spiky blonde hair, pale-tan skin, and sharp red eyes. Japanese facial features.

A part of Izuku perks up, recognizing the kid. His name did not pop up in Izuku’s mind. Izuku didn’t know this kid, no matter what that part insisted.

_I know him. ~~I7’u K!v6e!l0.~~ … I don’t know him. _

“I’m sorry?” Izuku speaks, brow furrowing. The middle schooler’s eyes widen then narrow.

“Cut the crap, Deku. Where the hell have you been? Auntie In - ” He starts to say but Izuku interrupts him.

“I’m sorry, mister. But… Do I know you?” The 14-year-old shutters to a halt. “W – hat?”

Izuku smiles kindly at him, worried about his expression. “I’m sorry, mister. You must have mistaken me for someone else. I hope you find whoever you’re looking for though.” The teenager turns on his heel and walks away, bags of groceries clutched in his hand. The other teenager doesn’t stop him. He seems to be in shock, stumbling back a bit. Then looks up at Izuku, watching his childhood best friend and bullied victim walk away.

“You don’t remember me?... You remember Auntie Inko and Uncle Hisashi who hasn’t been around for 4 years of your life, but you don’t remember me?” The blonde seems to almost shut down at the knowledge as he once again watches the once-only-constant-in-his-life walk away.

 _How much had my actions hurt you that you willingly forgot about me?_ A pain twinges that quickly grew into familiar anger and stress, sparks and smoke raising in his hands. The blonde grits his teeth, turns to his right, and walks down the street.

“That was strange,” Izuku mutters to himself as he uses his key to unlock the house door, struggling to move the bags around enough to open the door and get inside. “Tadaima,” he calls as he uses his feet to take off his shoes and shift them to the side. “Okaeri!” his mom calls back from the kitchen. He steps up from the entrance and walks to the kitchen to put down the groceries.

“Ah, thank you for getting the groceries, Izu-kun,” Inko tells him as they both get to work in putting away the groceries.

“It was no problem! The least I can do in apology for being missing,” Izuku laughs awkwardly. “Izuku…” Inko warns, then shakes the milk warningly towards him before she puts it away in the fridge. “How many times do I have to tell you? Not your fault. You couldn’t’ve known that strange noise you heard was anything but a strange noise or lead to your kidnapping!”

Izuku shrugs in response, sheepish and a little guilty for not telling his parents the complete truth of what had happened to him. Then he remembers his encounter with the strange boy.

He puts away the recyclable grocery bags before turning towards his mother.

“By the way, Kaa-san.”

Inko hums in response as she washes her hands. “I met this strange boy on my way home from the groceries.” Inko pauses in wiping her hands, getting out of the way to let Izuku wash his own hands. “Strange boy?”

“Yeah, he called out to me and ran up to me. At first, I didn’t realize he was calling out to me because he called me something strange,” Izuku continues. Inko puts down the towel she had been using on the counter. “Strange?”

“Yeah, called me… ‘Deku’, I think is what he said?” He wipes his hands on the towel.

Inko looks at Izuku, “Was this strange boy blonde? Wearing a middle school uniform?”

Izuku turns to look at her, questioningly. “Yeah! I didn’t recognize him but he called me that and he also… I think he was about to call you Auntie Inko, which is strange because I’m pretty sure I would remember somebody who calls me Deku for him to be so familiar with you. He told me that I needed to explain myself, which I didn’t get because guy didn’t even know me, I certainly didn’t know him. It was really strange. There was even some part of me that was telling me I knew the guy. Ridiculous. Anyways, it was really strange.” Izuku puts the towel on the counter and turns to the cupboards, looking through them. Inko stares at Izuku, silent and eyes wide. Shaken. “Kaa-san, what are we having for dinner?” Inko doesn’t response. Izuku pauses and turns to her, holding a bottle of spice in his hand. “Kaa-san?”

Inko takes in a shaky breath and releases it. “Izu-kun...” She looks Izuku directly in the eyes as she continues, “That blonde middle schooler you met was Bakugou Katsuki. Your childhood best friend, who I, before the Kidnapping, had suspected was also your main bully. You, since your toddler age, having been unable to pronounce his name correctly, called him Kacchan. He, having misread your name in kanji, called you Deku.”

Izuku stares at her, wide-eyed, uncomprehending. All he could muster is an “Eh?”

The bottle of spice drops from his hand onto the floor.

_Bakugou Katsuki. Childhood Friend, possibly bullied me, most likely for my Quirklessness._

_Used to call him K!v6e!l0 – Kac – K!v6 - … Why can’t I remember?_

Shakes start to tremble from his hands to his body. “I - . I don’t remember anybody of that name…” Izuku is confused. _Who…_

A flash of blonde hair. A little kid with blonde hair, faceless, running facing forward. Never once looking back, assuming Izuku was following behind.

The image was soon replaced with a familiar body, brown wild hair. Running forward then slowing down and turning towards Izuku, laughing, smile brightening his face. _“Come on! We’re going to late, Ku!” Tsuna…_

A flash of red eyes, once in a child face, soon showing a teen’s 14-year-old face. Sharp and anger then replaced with shock and a hint of hurt, soon replaced by rage. _Why are you angry?_

“IZUKU!” Hands gripping his shoulders, wrapping around him. Both of them collapsed to the floor. When did he drop to the floor?

_“I can’t wait to see ~~Kac – again.~~ He’d think I was lying when I tell him about this world where there aren’t any superpowers!” A train cart. Chains keeping Izuku tied down to the floor and the cart and the needles and the pain. But Na was here, chained too. His anchor. Holding hands and huddling together, as far from the things that their captor used to hurt them with as they could be in this tight space. The train rumbled on. Izuku wonders when the police will be able to finally get the train to stop. Even if there are no Heroes, there are still police, right? Pain flared in his head, flinching, black spots dotting his eyes. Breathing in and out, it took a second for Izuku to shift through the pain and information coming from his nerves. Same injuries as before, this new pain must be from Na then. The Villain had only hurt Na this round. Izuku soon let go of the thought he was having about his ~~childhood friend~~ , focusing on taking as much as Na’s pain as he could, sharing the information and feeling between the two until it’s numbed. _

_The train rumbled on._

Izuku snaps himself forward from the memory, breathing in and out, wrapped in the arms of Kaa-san and Tou-san – when did he get back? -, sitting on the living room couch – when did they move from the kitchen?

Inko is softly talking to Hisashi, sounding worried. Most likely updating him about Izuku’s missing memories on this Bakugou Katsuki.

Izuku breathes in and out, watching the dust particles dance in the light of the sun. Safe and warm in his parents’ arms.

He closes his eyes and falls into sleep’s embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to add that weird glitch effect where the symbols and different words block out and take away but I couldn't figure out how to do it on Word doc so I went with the next best thing. 
> 
> And yes, I made Izuku forget Katsuki. If I implied in previous chapters that he remembered Bakugou, ignore it. I don't feel like going back and re-reading my stuff just to delete those details.


	5. Missing Memories, Troubled Teens, and Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter is up and I am exhausted. RIP to my writing braincell who had to be sacrificed to the gods to figure out what the fuck the ending for this chapter will be and whether or not Izuku gets OFA and a part of the group of people who know Toshinori's secret.   
> Also, the Pillar system I speak of is given in better detail in chapter 5 of my other story, Paths of the Multiverse, which shows a different universe with Izuku asking for the same Pillar system. I might put a new explanation or the same explanation in the next chapter or a different chapter of this story to better explain the system. IDK. But I will better explain the system than what I did here. You'll know what I mean when you finish reading this chapter.

Izuku had come crying to Tsuna about his missing memories, how he doesn’t remember having a childhood friend – possibly his main bully too, which doesn’t surprise him because he remembers being bullied for his Quirklessness even though he can’t remember the bullies’ names – named Bakugou Katsuki yet apparently, he did. Tsuna had managed to calm Izuku down enough to get him to look for something, like a picture album or a diary, to either jog his memory or at least get him to know that this wasn’t some elaborate prank.

Izuku had asked his mom, which in response she pulled out two picture albums. Izuku learns, to his surprise, that this Bakugou and him had been childhood friends since infancy which is apparently because of their moms. What confuses Izuku then is how the hell he can’t remember Bakugou, who apparently revolved around his early life so much so he’s dead center involved in most of the events that happened to Izuku, according to the pictures at least, but he can perfectly remember everybody else, especially the adults, with only a couple of people’s faces and names being blurred or faceless. He remembers Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru yet doesn’t remember them ever having a kid. _Why only Bakugou Katsuki? Why not the entire family?_ Izuku wonders as he stares at a picture of baby him and this ‘Kacchan’ sleeping together, wrapping in each other’s arms and stuffed animals – a bunny and a bear respectively.

Inko and Hisashi want to take him to the hospital to have his memory check but Izuku manages to talk them down from it. After all, it was only one person he couldn’t remember, not entire events or dates or group of people or Heroes or Villains. It’s like his mind had just replaced Bakugou with either a different person or completely whited him out til he was nothing more than a vaguely kid-shaped person or just completely deleted him from the scene with a couple of edits made. Izuku recognized the later pictures that depict him from ages 4-8 before his life ended here and began in the other world, but he doesn’t recognize the blond kid that’s included in the pictures. He knows these events and the stories that come with them… but he doesn’t know the story these pictures paint with the blond who was apparently his childhood friend in them. “I don’t know you,” Izuku whispers to a frozen image of a 7-year-old blond kid smirking with his fist taping his chest and a starry-eyed Izuku standing next to him, smiling brightly and holding a remote control. They both were standing behind a working robot that was waving to the camera, they both had 1st place badges on their chest and a trophy stood next to the robot. Izuku remembers that event, the robot-building contest; he doesn’t remember having a partner or this blond kid being his partner. “Yet somehow the memories these pictures speak of have you in almost every scene of my life… Who were you to me? If you bullied me after my diagnoses like Kaa-san suspects, why did you stay? Why did I stay? Is it ‘cause you were always there? I very nearly sent Na’s bullies to the hospital for even looking in mine and Na-kun’s direction the wrong way so, if you bullied me, why did I stay? … Who are you?” Izuku doesn’t understand. He doesn’t think he will ever understand even if he does get his memories of Bakugou back.

Izuku closes the albums and stands up, deciding that he needs some fresh air. Also figuring that he should just let this go. Musutafu is big, doubtful they will bump into each other again, doubtful he will see the object of his missing memories again… at least, not until UA, if Mom’s words are to be believed about Katsuki wishing to go to UA and if they both manage to get in. Which is doubtful in Izuku’s case in the realm of academics, not because he isn’t smart but because that’s 6 years’ worth of school to catch up on in 10 months plus the physical training. And that’s difficult, even if he could ignore the differences in history, changes in science and language, the propaganda education – it’s propaganda no matter how you look at it and it’s a damn miracle no liberal has pointed this out, or maybe they have and it’s just the childhood rose-colored lenses talking. He really should get back to studying for the test he will be taking in 7 months that will test him if he’s passed any of the grades that he has missed. He’s taking that breath of fresh air though to get out of the house that apparently holds memories he has no memory of. Izuku remembers being a lonely kid who bounced from friend group to friend group even before the teacher told the entire class without his consent of his Quirklessness, not whatever story the picture albums told. Izuku needed to get out of the house before he had a panic attack.

He put on his red shoes, grabs his keys and puts them in his pocket, then walks out the door.

Izuku wanders and focuses on what has changed and what has not in his neighborhood and then whatever street he found himself wandering down. To not focus on his running thoughts and theories as to how the hell he forgot an entire person and who they were to him, to not have a panic attack.

Eventually, Izuku wanders enough that he finds himself at a garbage filled area just over a ledge with railing. A glance around and he sees a sign that proclaims this place to be Musutafu Municipal Park Beach. _This is supposed to be a beach?_ He felt a twinge of pain and empathy towards this beach and the creatures that must have lived in this beach and part of the ocean. “What a horrible way to be treated,” Izuku says, staring sadly at the garbage that now overtakes this place. “How could the community have just left you like this?” _If this had been Tsuna’s world, a community service group of volunteers or just volunteers from the surrounding community would have already been sent in to clean this up before it got like this._ “Have the Heroes fallen so far that they have forgotten their roots? Heroism starts, stems, and grows from and with community service. But no Limelight Hero would ever be caught dead in doing this kind of work unless the camera’s are turned here…” Izuku says sadly. He then pauses, remembers the community service he had done back in Namimori to help people and avoid the more-mafia-oriented shenanigans, then nods his head.

Izuku jogs home, grabs a ton of trash bags, cleaning supplies, and tools, tells Tou-san what he’s going to do and where he’s going to be – taking off before Hisashi could respond –, then heads back to the beach. Izuku sets down his supplies by the railing of the ledge that surrounds the garbage heap of a beach, straightens up, and looks at the mess around him. “I’ve got my work cut out for me… and I might end up having to continue doing this while going to UA or whatever high school I ended up going to,” Izuku smiles, “But it will be worth it.” He rolls up his black-and-orange flannel shirt – a gift from Chrome – sleeves, opens a trash bag and ties it to the railing, puts on his dad’s old (from his high school years so yes, old) gardening gloves, and gets to work.

Within a few hours, he has 3 bags filled with trash, about 59 items put in the recycling bin stationed across the street, and repurposed about 15 items into either decorative items, reusable tools, or DIY stuff like a hanging shelf full of repurposed pots. He found one (1) valuable item that actually belongs either in a museum or back with the culture group it comes from – not really sure how item ended up in a garbage heap but it did. Good thing his grandmother from his dad’s side is a museum curator who also respects and is in contact with people from many cultures, so he can give the object in question to her and she will know if his assessment is correct and what to do with it. Izuku had put the object carefully in his backpack then had gone back to work.

After those hours had passed, all three stairs and a small bit of their surrounding areas has been cleared, people can now walk down the stairs to the actual beach – well, almost (he had found a broken bottle and who knows how much glass is still there in that part of the surrounding area. Luckily, so far, it had only been that one stair set).

Izuku throws out the 3 trash bags into the dumpster he had found not far from the beach then returns to the beach.

He surveys what he had finished. The sun is already halfway finished with setting. The 3 stair sets cleared of trash and debris and knickknacks. Izuku nods and smiles. “Not as much as I hoped I would be able to finish today but at least I can actually get down onto the beach floor and not have to jump into a trash heap to reach it,” He mutters to himself.

Izuku carefully takes off the gloves he had worn for most of the day, hissing as he took them off. Despite wearing gloves, his hands had still gained blisters and still throbbed from handling trash and broken stuff. The palms of his hands are completely red, flexing them causes him to wince in pain. “…This is going to take a while if my hands get like this every time,” Izuku hisses. Working for hours with hardly any breaks to rest your hands or get water when you’re doing community work that isn’t just inside work, even with gloves, your hands will get ruined, as Izuku has just discovered. “Note to self, if I’m going to keep doing this, give myself some breaks.” Izuku looks at the ruined beach before him. “I can come back to this, I don’t need to finish this within 10 months, unlike my education work.” Izuku nods his head, puts his gloves in his backpack’s pocket, carefully throws his backpack over his shoulder then moves the handle over the other shoulder, and walks home. (His repurposed items have either been gifted towards the community neighbors who had walked to him to see what he was doing or were in his backpack ready to be finished up and sold online.)

Once he gets home, he gets to work on getting a system started. The repurposed items not gifted to the community who lives near the beach were completed and put up online to be sold, with his mother taking up the job of packaging and sending the items off. 3 of those items have already been bought and sent out within a few weeks of putting them up online.

And so, a system is set up. Izuku does his education work in the mornings (and evenings on weekends), works on restoring the beach in the afternoons (and evenings on Wednesday and Friday), finishing the repurposed items in the evenings and putting them up for buying online in the morning before he gets to work on his education system. Hisashi occasionally coming with him to the beach and helping him with cleaning up.

And so, 7 months appear and disappear. More than half of the beach has been cleared and Izuku has gotten caught up to 5 years’ worth of his education (he’s smart and analytical and has already learned most of the stuff if you ignore the propaganda and all the things taught to the kids about Quirks, so it’s not surprising that he caught up to most of the information so quickly), just in time for his test.

He goes into the government education building where he has to take his test, nervous and scratching/rubbing the scar on his upper left arm that he had gotten from Byakuran in the Future That Wasn’t, hidden under his short shirt sleeve but still partially visible at the edge near his elbow. Hisashi grips the hand that’s scratching the scar and pulls it away, shaking his head and taking Izuku’s hand. Inko grabs his other hand and gives him a brave but watery smile. Encouraging. Izuku turns towards his father who also gives him a smile. Small but warm. Encouraging. Izuku takes breath, squeezes both of the hands holding his. And walks into the intimidating building which will determine his fate in whether or not he will be able to take the UA Entrance Exam in 2 months with a single test about his education. Crash course, tears that almost flooded the house multiple times, encouraging parents, and the hope that they will focus the questions primarily on education outside of Quirks (Quirk History is definitely going to be on it though) because his Quirk Analysis can only take him so far, especially after 6 years of disuse (Flames do not count), help him now.

2 weeks later, which Izuku spends clearing the beach with his Tou-san’s help, catching up even further by learning the stuff currently being taught in the middle schools, and talking to Tsuna about everything but education to keep his mind away from his spiraling thoughts, the results of the test came in. With bated breath, surrounded by his parents, Izuku opens the envelope. The words,

Congratulations! You have past the education test with flying colors!

Japanese: 95% in Language; 89% in History; 90% in Literature & the Works; 98% in Lore & Legends.

Math: 96%

World History (Before & After Dawn of Quirks): 84%

Science: 90% in Science (Chemistry, Physics, Biology (Before Quirks), Anatomy & Physiology (BQ), Astrology and Meta Physics ( **Not Applicable for Any Grade Outside of College Levels** )); 93% in Quirk Science (Studies & Analysis ( **Note: Subject made a 100% in this field, recommend Subject take extended courses in Quirk Analysis and Studies in Subject’s high school whether it be self-study or an actual class and be involved in Quirk Analysis field in the future** ), Quirk Biology, Quirk Anatomy, Chemistry in the Realm of Quirks, Physics)

Fine Arts: 83% ( **Subject has potential in Art but needs a mentor – and also needs to learn how to not set himself on fire when nervous while excellent control, still a risk of fire, a risk I’m willing to take because Subject is an incredible artist with potential for more; Music is in a realm of possibilities for Subject but Subject’s fire quirk leaves this area as a no; Theatre is a solid no for Subject due to Subject’s refusal to preform in front of people** )

P.E.: 98% ( ** _Subject kept switching between using Quirk and not using Quirk for each field as if he expected to be put under fire if he isn’t good enough for specific fields. Recommend giving Subject a therapist to work on not thinking the teachers or judge is going to shot or attack him if he isn’t good enough to dodge or be great in specific activities_** )

First Aid: 100% ( _Subject knew how to fix burns; give CPR; bandage and reset a bone in emergency situations; knew how to work with limited supplies and how to make limited supplies if there aren’t any supplies; knew how to determine and differentiate illness from injury in a matter of minutes; and knew how to defend self and patient in the event of a Villain trying to attack him or the patient while he’s working on patient; and even knew how to do an emergency tourniquet. Recommend a therapist to help him work through the trauma that lead to him learning these things_ )

Survival Training: 99% (I am concerned…)

Quirk: 93% ( _Despite only having his Quirk for lesser years than the rest of his age group, Sub-ject did incredibly well. Needs to work on motor control, turning the Quirk off and on on command, needs to work on relying more on the Quirk. Spent a ton of time during the test mostly relying on himself, mind and body, rather than his Quirk beyond pulling on it for strength, and possibly courage as well if the brain activity monitor is correct_ )

With these results, we of the Education Board can proudly say that, according to the teachers who judged your test and your results, despite some concerning things they saw during their respective tests, you are of the level of a student who has just graduated Junior High and is studying for High School. Meaning, Midoriya Izuku, you are perfectly eligible and ready to take the high school entrance exams starting up this coming Spring! Good Luck!

, greet Izuku once he’s unfolds the folded letter.

Izuku breaks down, crying, and shrieking in joy. “Kaa-san, Tou-san! I passed! I passed! I can take the UA Entrance Exam!” Inko and Hisashi both join him in crying, all of Izuku’s hard work paying off right before them, and he hasn’t even taken the entrance exams yet. If the Education Board states that he’s ready, despite the concerning things they found out about Izuku and despite the 6 years he’s been missing, then he’s ready. The family hugs each other, all of them cry-laughing, and collapse to the floor.

Izuku was one obstacle course passed closer to accomplishing his childhood dream that had kept him going even during his darkest days while he was in the alternate universe.

Later that night, after the celebratory feast dinner, Izuku sits on his bed and tells Tsuna about his results. To which, before he can respond, now 10-year-old Reborn, outside of the frame of video, responds, smugly, “Of course, he passed! Midoriya was taught by me after all. Nothing but perfect results comes from being taught by me.” Tsuna gives a small ‘Hey’, sensing that he was just double insulted by his own tutor. Izuku gives a small laugh in response, too used to Reborn’s antics to give anything more than a ‘Hai, hai, of course, you helped, Reborn’ to his statement. Tsuna flinches and looks at Izuku in betrayal, because now, Tsuna will be the one who is punished for Izuku’s response.

Once Reborn leaves though, Tsuna quietly laughs at Izuku’s statement then gives his own congratulations on passing. “I wish I could kiss and hold you to show how happy I am for you,” Tsuna comments longingly. Izuku’s eyes grow sad and a tear slips down his face as he says, “I want to be in your arms too. I miss our cuddle sessions and late-night TV shows and movies binges. I want to walk around Namimori with you, holding hands and making comments about the people we observe through our link. I want to show you Musutafu, all the sights. I wish you could take the exam with me, go to UA with me.” Tsuna laughs softly, sorrow dancing in his eyes, even as he replies jokingly, “You and I both know that even with Reborn’s tutoring and your crash coursing, that I wouldn’t pass the academic portion of the exam. Even if I passed the physical with flying colors, which is doubtful even if the exam actually is fighting robots, the failing grade in the academic portion would drop my final grade.” Izuku smiles in return and says, “Yes, but I can still dream. Not only that, if the Vongola made you go, then Reborn would just pull some strings, recommend, and make you pass the recommendation exam with flying colors by pointing a gun at you and telling you to do it with your Dying Will.” Tsuna laughs and nods in agreement, “True. He would if going to UA means being a greater boss or if Vongola made it mandatory for me to go. That is, if we lived in your world.”

They both laugh at the thought, ignoring the gnawing pain of not being able to celebrate Izuku passing the education test and getting to take the UA Entrance Exam together. These meetings were not meant to be spent in sorrow and pain of not being together, they both were determined to not make their meetings so.

Izuku soon had to go to bed so they finished their meeting as they always do since it started. One hand. Palms up and pressed against each other as best as they could. Foreheads touching as best they could. Then separation, first from the forehead then the hand. A wave goodbye. Final words. Disconnect at the same time.

Leaving one in the darkness of their unlit room and the other to get ready for the day.

Izuku, wearing old outdoor clothes that he doesn’t mind getting even dirtier, is throwing several loose wires into the trash bag when he saw a blonde man jogging in the street. The gaunt, tall man slowed then stopped altogether, only breathing a little deeper than normal. Izuku waves at him, shyly. The man waves back, staring curiously at him then glancing at the beach. Izuku focuses on throwing the wires away and making sure they didn’t rip the bag. A gasp from the man causes him to look back up to see the man staring, wide-eyed and awed at the sight of the half way cleaned beach.

He turns to Izuku and, pointing at the beach just beyond the railing, asks him, “Young man… Did you do all of this?”

Izuku smiles shyly and nods his head. “My dad occasionally comes by to help and to pick up the stuff that won’t fit in the trash bags or the dumpster to throw away into an actual dump. But, yes. I’ve been cleaning the beach up. When I stumbled upon it and saw the mess, something in me just… couldn’t take it. I wanted to clean the beach, make it beautiful again. I didn’t even realize it was a beach in the first place until I saw the old sign.” Izuku turns to look out at the beach as he finishes, “Community service. It’s dirty work, sure, but the end result is always worth it. All it takes is some cleanup and a ton of elbow grease and you can make it beautiful. Kind of sad that nobody does it simply because it’s the right thing to do, because it needs to be cleaned up. Nobody does community service anymore except for the hours needed to get out of going to jail and it’s kind of depressing. Community service brings people together. And before the existence of Quirks, doing community service was considered hero work – you were considered a Hero for the community involved, doing community service.”

Izuku turns towards the man and shrugs sadly, “I wanted to do it. I wanted to clean the beach. So, I am. Besides, I’m not just throwing the objects out. Some of them I’m repurposing, others I’m putting in the recycling bin to be re-used.” The man smiles.

“I think you’re doing the right thing, kid. I thank you for helping this community.” Izuku smiles and nods his head, “No problem. Happy to help.”

The man looks at the beach then back towards the kid. He asks, “Can I help? I’m not as weak as I look.”

Izuku blinks and looks at him in surprise, then, after a moment’s pause, tells him, “You’re going to need a pair of gloves – preferably gardening gloves or gloves designed for outdoor work. You can come back later to help, I’m here everyday in the afternoons working on it. I would also recommend that you come wearing clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. If you don’t have any gloves at all and or want to get work immediately, there’s a convenience store in that direction about 2 blocks from here,” Izuku turns and points in the direction once behind him, he turns his head to look at the 50-year-old man before him, “It should have either gardening or outdoor gloves for you to buy and wear. That’s where I got mine.” He lifts his gloved hands to show him wearing outdoor gloves (worn like he has been using them for 5 months). The man nods and responds, “These are pretty old clothes so I don’t mind getting them dirty. Is the convenience store on this street or one of the side streets?”

Izuku thinks about it then answers, “There’s a bit of a turn about the 2 blocks where the store is. It’s one of those wide turns that are stretched out a bit. It’s all on the same street as this one, it’s just across the street from this sidewalk. It should be the first convenience store that you see before the turn finishes on that side of the street.” The man nods, thanks him, and walks away, past Izuku and down the street to follow his directions.

Izuku walks down the stairs to the pile he’s dismantling right now. He carefully pulls out a plank of wood from the pile, backing up from the pile and watching it warily. He had one to many collapsing piles of trash nearly fall on top of him to risk this pile, especially with the broken fridge he had been eyeing wearily since he got started on this section of the beach placed on top. _Who the hell throws away a fridge instead of just recycling it using the fridge’s company?!_

The pile doesn’t collapse, though he did hear it groaning and see several pieces shift unsteadily. Izuku makes a mental note and then puts the long wooden plank in his hand onto the repurpose pile he has going. He makes a note to call his dad for the truck because some of the things he plans on repurposing this month is definitely going to be too big for his backpack or his arms to hold. There’s only so many times you can walk around the city carrying several questionable things in your hands before someone calls either the heroes or the cops and that is not a conversation he wants to have.

 _Thank you, mom, for letting me turn your former office space into my crafting workplace – and thank you, dad, for finally converting the second guest room that we never use anyways into mom’s office space._ Izuku makes another mental note to get the both of them a specially crafted gift for their respective Parent Days. Then focused back to work on cleaning up the beach.

The man came back an hour later with a sheepish smile on his face and outdoor gloves clutched in his hands. Izuku had just finished throwing the recycle pile into the recycling bin when he returned.

“Hey, what took you so long?”

The man embarrassedly responds, “I… got lost, and a kitten had gotten stuck in the tree with the owner worried it might fall and get badly injured. I… had to help. … And then I got lost. Then I found the store. Then I realized that I didn’t have my wallet on me. So, I had to backtrack to my house to get my wallet… It’s been a long hour.” Izuku laughs and shakes his head, reminding amusedly enough, but with a twinge, of Ryohei, who doesn’t know his left from his right outside of the realm of boxing but still wants to help, and Tsuna who’s severely directional challenged which not even getting his Flames back completely fixed. The two combined have led to some pretty hilarious and also constant questions of ‘how?!’ situations. Not that Izuku can say anything given that he’s just as directional challenged every time he gets his head stuck in a storm of thoughts and theories. Which is every other day, made worse by his reintroduction into the Quirked World after years of not having to think about Quirks beyond surface-level explanations and theories.

“That’s okay. I’m glad that you came to help.” The man nods and replies that it isn’t a problem. “I’m taking some of the trash and throwing it away, some into the recycling bin over there,” Izuku puts across the street where the recycling dumpster he’s been using lays, “And repurposing other pieces into something for decorative use, tool use, or a support item that someone had commissioned me to make.” Izuku had been thanking Iemitsu, and Shouichi who took over the lessons later on, every day since he got started on this little project of his for teaching him how to make things – useful or not – out of scrap and bits and ends. It means that not everything is going to waste, just like what the community service group used – would do in Namimori, a small comfort from ho – from the town that had happily adopted him into the fold.

“Okay,” the man nods in understanding.

“Oh! What horrible manners of mine, I never introduced myself,” Izuku blushes, embarrassed. He reaches a hand out to the man, “I’m Midoriya Izuku!” Izuku gives a half-smile.

The man blinks, stunt. “You – You’re that kid that had gone missing years ago… aren’t you?” Izuku stutters, short circuiting for a moment. Stunt that the man knew, at least part of, his story. “I… am. You – Are you friends with the detective who had been working on my case or something? I didn’t think a Quirkless person like me’s story could get be cared about enough for people to remember…” Izuku asks then mutters, “Then again, the community around here seemed to recognize my name as well for some reason once I introduced myself to them.” The man thinks to himself, _damn, this kid is smart. Just my single question and he managed to figure out that I am friends with Tsukauchi. Then again, Young Midoriya’s also pretty self-deprecating to think that nobody will recognize him as the viral missing kid._ The man remembers the treatment of Quirkless people. _Or the self-deprecation came from the years of bullying and even after being separated from it, it’s still stuck to him._

The man interrupts before Izuku’s words could develop into his infamous mutterings. “Young Midoriya. First, my name is Yagi Toshinori. Second, yes, I am friends with Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, but even before Tsukauchi came to my doorstep, depressed and angry that once again a Quirkless kid’s case was going to be unacknowledged and put down as a dead cold case then told me the details, I knew about your disappearance.” _And incredibly frustrated and upset that I couldn’t save you. As well as furious with authorities trying to brush it off._

Izuku blinks in confusion. “How? Why?”

Toshinori sighs. “A viral video of you looking around, hearing a voice nobody else could hear screaming for help, searching for the voice and wanting to help. Of you suddenly covering your ears, a Villain popping up out of nowhere with other Villains and snatching you up, the video taker getting up to intervene or at least distract the Villains before the Heroes get here, then a portal showing up and sucking everyone expect the video taker. With only your backpack and some blood left to show that you were even there. No evidence other than the video to show you had been kidnapped. It got put up on HeroTube seconds after it happened, so everybody knew it wasn’t edited.” Izuku’s eyes widened in shock, and horror. Horrified that anybody had witnessed his actual Kidnapping. Some part of him though was glad the person hadn’t witnessed or filmed what had happened on the Train, during his actual Kidnapping period. “The video taker had been hidden while this went on and was about to go out of hiding to help you when the portal showed up, according to later interviews with him. Authority and the news media tried to brush it off, let the story play for a few days then stop showing it, hoping everybody would just forget. Unfortunately for them, they did. The Union and Rights for the Quirkless charity as well as the Quirkless Community had jumped on the wagon. Speaking up and keeping the viral video, the talks about other disappearances similar to yours, Quirkless people who had escaped and survived kidnappings like yours and torture and experiments, even Quirkless people who only experienced discrimination, coming out of the woodworks and telling people in gory detail, even showing their scars, their stories. Your Kidnapping had triggered a movement. It was the metaphorical camel’s back breaking, the last straw for the Quirkless Community.” Izuku’s mouth opened and closed for a few moments, then a breathless “what?” left his lips. Toshinori stops for a moment, letting the kid process his words. Then the kid’s next words threw him off guard.

“How is it possible? Why was it what had happened to me that was the last straw for my people and not somebody else’s? All I wanted was to help.” Toshinori stopped for a moment, then he carefully asks the Flame user.

“Young Midoriya. Do you… not remember your kidnapping?”

Izuku shakes his head. “No. I remember what happened to me afterwards, the last 6 years. But the initial kidnapping itself… I don’t remember. I remember hearing screaming, horrible screaming and this overwhelming urge to help, then nothing before I woke up… in that place, chained up and bleeding.” Izuku carefully edits out the instinctive _with someone else_ – _with Tsuna_ , that had wanted to leave his mouth. He didn’t know how much Tsukauchi had updated the man on his case, especially after his return and their conversation in the hospital (that was more like Izuku rambling on painkillers then a conversation, barely even an interrogation, as far as Izuku’s concerned). “I remember what they did to me while I was in their clutches. Mom’s taking me to a therapist about it, but I still remember…” The screaming and that mental quirk Villain’s actions that had lead to Tsuna and Izuku’s survival-fueled Flame Bonding was the worst of the torture they were put through, Izuku firmly believes – those were what fueled his nightmares on a weekly basis, right alongside his nightmares of his Familigia (no matter how much Tsuna and Izuku tried he was an honorary family member as far as Vongola is concerned, even Tsuna’s ancestor Giotto had cheerfully asked when the wedding was going to happen, much to Tsuna’s and his embarrassment) dead and accusatory and his nightmares about failing of everybody and at everything (he’s partially convinced those nightmares are actually Tsuna’s that had somehow managed to transfer over through the Bond to Izuku, he really needs to talk to Tsuna about the nightmares soon to find out if he’s correct though). Tsuna would beg to differ on what was the worst part of their torture but Tsuna can suck Izuku’s ass about it. Izuku shakes those thoughts away, scolding himself that now was not the time.

He focuses back on their conversation. “Why? What exactly happened during my initial kidnapping to lead to a movement?”

Toshinori frowns, makes a mental note of what Midoriya had said about remembering what he had been through, and responds, “You were screaming. The entire time, even while unconscious. And nobody came to your help, even the video taker had admitted to hesitating as he lived in the neighborhood you lived on and knew who you were, that you were Quirkless, and he had still assumed you would defend yourself, but then remembered nobody had been willing to teach you self-defense. The Quirkless Community, after that interview, had launched onto those words and basically used it as their next trend of words to trigger action. The hashtags #Iwasnevertaught and #Iwanttohelp is still trending to this day if I remember my niece’s words correctly. According to her, the hashtag #Iwanttohelp was based off the words you screamed that day of your kidnapping. I would just show you the video to show the exact wording that had triggered the hashtag, but I’m assuming seeing the initial kidnapping will trigger you.” Izuku relaxes, and smiles gratefully at Yagi, called that he doesn’t have to see his kidnapping from an outsider’s perspective. He already knew that nobody had come for his aid and he didn’t really want to remember the actual kidnapping, so he is grateful that he didn’t have to. (Though the fact that what had happened had been taped, and that the video taker had even gotten up to try to do something even if he had hesitated at first, actually made him feel a bit better about the event, it still made his skin feel like insects were crawling up his entire body and like he was drowning if he even gave the initial kidnapping a single thought.)

Toshinori nods in seeing the kid’s smile, he had suspected as much that the video might trigger him. He only hoped that his colleagues and any kids who recognize Young Midoriya would have just as much tack as to not show the poor boy the video. Remembering your torture was bad enough. Remembering your torture on top of the actual kidnapping would be a burden worse than being trapped in small spaces.

Toshinori decided to change the subject, that topic was not how he thought he would spend this afternoon with.

He gestures to the beach below them, “Um… Shall we get to continue cleaning the beach?”

Izuku nods in agreement, glad the solemn conversation was over. That was a conversation that Izuku only wanted to have when he was older, drunk beyond his mind, and in the arms of his Tsuna. It was hard enough talking about it to the therapist back in Namimori with Tsuna, harder now without Tsuna talking to the therapist given to him by the Law demanding all who experienced trauma went to a verified, annually checked-for-authenticity-and-not-worsening-the-patients therapist.

Toshinori puts on his gloves as they walk down the steps, Izuku directs him to a pile, and they get to work. With Toshinori only coughing up blood once every 30 minutes which is a plus and a surprise for Toshinori.

This continues every afternoon for the last remaining 2 months before the Entrance Exam – sometimes Toshinori is there with him, sometimes he’s late, and sometimes he’s unable to come which is fine to Izuku who had gotten used to doing community service by himself these last couple of months.

Then Izuku finds out Toshinori’s secret 3 weeks before the Exam thanks to a certain Sludge Villain attacking downtown and Katsuki.

Then Izuku gets asked to be his successor, which Izuku responds by requesting that the Symbol of Peace gets divided up between seven individuals including himself called Pillars so that if one Pillar falls, it will still hold until the successor takes over the position. Toshinori is surprised by his request, was about to refuse, wanting to keep One For All a secret, then realized that the Pillar system was actually a better idea than one single Symbol. He agrees, just asks that he has some sway over who gets told about One For All among the Pillar users. Izuku thinks this comprimse is fine.

Izuku knows he only has a few more weeks before his Flames will get restless and start lashing out, desperately searching for Guardians. Both Reborn and Iemitsu had told him that, even with their Bond, it was a miracle that he had lasted as long as he was without any Guardians, after years of activation. Izuku remembers calmly responding that it is because the ones meant to be his weren’t in their world. Izuku can sense that he only has a tiny bit longer before his Flames start actively searching, putting him in a coma as a result of the Flame output until it gathers all of his Guardians to him. Izuku doesn’t want to force anybody and the coma method is not the way to go but that’s what his Flames will do to him if he doesn’t start actively searching himself. Izuku silently begs his Flames to hold out for a little longer, until the Exam, until he gets into UA and sits in the Hero Course – he knows it’s selfish of him to think he’ll get in, with his Flames registered as his Quirk for a few months now and him being missing, but he has to hope so. Izuku’s intuition is telling him he will find Guardians through UA, he must get into UA. Even if it means using the brand new Quirk he had gotten a week and a half before the Exam, rather than his Flames, to do so. He just needs his Flames to not snap within the next 3 weeks until at least hopefully his first week, and he will be golden.

Kaa-san, please ignore my pale complexion compared to my normal tan and unusual laggyness. It’s just my body overheating from my latest Quirk practice with Tou-san. Yes, I will be fine during the Exam, no, I won’t pass out during the Exam.

Izuku swears to the stars above his Flames don’t shut the fuck up within the next day before the Exam, Izuku will use the bone-breaking Quirk that refuses to stop breaking his bones – it barely even lets him use 5% and that’s when he uses his fighting style to release the power! His Flames quiet down within a few hours upon hearing his warning. They really, really wanted to show off all the training their tormented-and-thought-Quirkless-non-Hyper-self had been through to reach where he was now and him using the Quirk that has ghosts tied to it and destroys his body would ruin that plan.

…OFA and his Flames get along like cats and dogs – barely tolerating most days, vicious fights on bad days, and getting along like a house on fire and they are siblings proudly watching it burn to the ground on good days.

Toshinori had been surprised and a little bit stunt when Izuku had admitting that to him during one of their runs along the beach. Apparently, OFA not getting along with the original Quirk of the host and rarely using the original Quirk when the host activates OFA is something that’s never happened before Izuku. Which… is just great because that means the only one aware who might be able to help him get the two Quirks to just get along isn’t going to be much help.

Izuku’s eyes twitch as his Dream self watches the manifestations of his Quirks – one an on-fire-aura version of his Hyper self, the other a white-haired teen, with a green lighting surrounding and entering in and out of his body, and glowing green eyes – argue about his plan for the physical portion of the Exam and which Quirk was going to be in charge. Izuku’s dream self rubs his temple then yells at them/scolds them like a mother with two troublemaking kids for a solid hour, says that he needs to have a dreamless sleep for the Exam is tomorrow, tells his Flames to protect his mind and OFA to keep an eye out for intruders, they like kicked puppies go to do their assigned jobs.

Izuku has a dreamless sleep the night before the Exam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UA Exam will hopefully be next. No promises on going into too much detail as to what might happen as, like me, the narrative tends to get lost in the head about different topics and the Exams might be over by the time the narrative returns.   
> Or you might just get a summary and I might just focus on the waiting period or the letter. It might be a short chapter or a long chapter in detail about what transpired the three weeks during and after the Exam. *shrugs* We'll see.


	6. Entrance Exam and Always Waiting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, this one was a struggle. I couldn't remember if Recovery Girl could heal injuries if the person is unconscious, so I went with the bodies need to be at least partially awake for her Quirk to heal properly. The rest of the chapter was a struggle, especially in not writing down the purple-haired teen's name, after all Izuku didn't know it so there is no reason the narrative should when it's for the most part from Izuku's perspective.

The day has come. He has finished cleaning the beach and sold all the items he had made with the reusable junk; got OFA though he wasn’t expecting that; managed to convince the Symbol of Peace to at least change the one-person Symbol into a seven-person system (though he actually wanted to dismantle the idea of a Symbol of Peace entirely given how much the other Heroes are now relying unfairly on a Symbol to relax on the job and do anything except doing the dirty work, he will settle on the Seven Pillar System instead); found out that he has forgotten someone who had been important to him according to the pictures and his old diaries (which had also made him uncomfortably aware of a darker side to him much closer than Reborn had enough managed to get him to realize – though some part of him has an incline of an idea that most of that dark side was cultivated by the toxic environment he was living in before his Kidnapping, mom can’t exactly block out the words or actions of the people around him when they realized he was Quirkless after all and he certainly never hid away from the idea of analyzing them and finding their weaknesses); finds himself coming up with and writing down ideas to get society to stop discriminating against Quirkless and Mutant-Quirked people in the code he and Tsuna had created all those years ago; somehow passed the education test with flying colors; learned about All Might’s deepest and darkest secret – the scar doesn’t really bother him, it’s the fact that this society has forgotten that Pro Heroes are human beings too that bothers him; found out that OFA does not like his Sky Flames and vice versa – it’s like siblings that have to spend their entire life, or at least a quarter of their life in OFA’s case, in the exact same room without being able to leave expect for a short period of time, they’ll fuck you up if you hurt their host or the other but they’ll destroy each other just the same. _At least, they are quiet today_ , Izuku’s sighs. It would have been even more of a struggle focusing on any part of the exam if they weren’t quiet today.

It’s been a long 10 months since he finally managed to get out of the hospital.

And now, here he was. About to enter UA grounds for the first, and possibly last, time to take a test that will determine if he will get the best of the best education that will guarantee recognition – not that Izuku cares about that – and above-and-beyond Hero work, or he will have to work with the other Hero Schools that will probably help him get the same but it won’t be with state-of-the-art technology. Then again, Reborn expects nothing but the best and would probably figure out a way to get to his universe to torture Izuku for daring to not do his even better than his best. So, really, Izuku has to make sure that this isn’t the last time he enters UA grounds.

Izuku stares at the imposing building(s?) that make up UA’s main building and the tall entrance gate. Unlike the other students walking in wearing their middle school uniforms, Izuku wore his street clothes. _I would have worn my Namimori middle school uniform but that would have blown my cover story – a person on the run for a year and in captivity for 5 years before that has no reason to have an unrecognizable uniform for a school that doesn’t even exist after all._ Still, Izuku felt out of place among these uniform-wearing UA hopefuls. Hopefully, they’ll just assume that he came from the incredibly-rare-in-Japan public schools which don’t have a required uniform and not question him on that. He didn’t feel like explaining his story or getting bombarded by people who knew his story and had questions.

He shakes his head, dislodging the thoughts, and breathes in then out. He walks up to the gate, uses the pass handed out to all examinees after having their identities verified, stands inside the gates and waits for the light analyzing him and his pass to finish. He gets a positive green light and a cheery voice informs him that he may pass through the gates. He steps foot into UA grounds and walks further into the grounds, bee-lining towards the woman – 3rd year judging by her worn uniform and the three stars on her lapel, a student ambassador judging by the lanyard hanging from her neck, Hero Department judging by the single decoration button on her uniform jacket – holding up a card with his name on it.

He trips over an uneven and cracked piece of concrete, locks up his body to resist the Reborn-caused training instinct to flip himself forward and gracefully land onto his feet, and resigns himself to the fate of embarrassing himself in front of UA students and examinees because he can’t reveal his training nor fighting instincts breed from the 2 years of Reborn and the bullshit he couldn’t avoid despite not being directly involved – again, it would his cover story out of the waters if he did and he… can’t afford to make such a mistake, not with what it will cost him.

Then he ends up not face-planting onto the floor, much to his surprise as he had locked up his instincts, then he realized that he wasn’t face-planting because he was floating.

“Woah!” He gestures wildly and freaks out. A voice behind him giggles as she says, “Hey, are you ok?” He gets straightened up into a standing position and released, his feet dropping to the floor.

He turns around to see a brown-haired girl, also not wearing any middle school uniform, bubbly and sunny smile on her face as she continues, “Sorry for using my quirk on you, but that looked like it would be a pretty painful fall, face-planting onto the floor is not fun in my opinion. So, I figured I’d help!”

“Ah, uh, t- that’s okay. Thanks!” Izuku gives a smile to her. She seems to blink rapidly as if temporarily blinding – _His smile is really bright!_ She thoughts dazedly, temporarily blinding by the shining smile.

Then she smiles back, “Okay, glad you’re okay.” She looks up in realization, “Ah, we better be off though, wouldn’t want to keep our ambassadors waiting!” She runs off, most likely towards where her own ambassador is. He turns and walks the rest of the way towards his assigned ambassador.

He rubs the back of his head sheepishly once he’s reached her. “Sorry to keep you waiting, I’m Izuku Midoriya.” The Lion-Quirked student ambassador simply smiles back. “It’s alright, I’ve been meaning to tell Cementoss-sensei about that particular area anyways, but kept putting it off and forgetting to. Hand me your pass and ID please so I can verify you really are who you say you are.” Izuku hands over his UA pass and takes out his recently-acquired ID Card – _damn discriminating government offices and their excuses for why I didn’t have my ID Card yet. Didn’t get it until last month after I registered my Quirk and went to the building itself to acquire it. Fucking assholes_ –, he carefully keeps his face neutral to hide his annoyance towards what he was thinking about as she looks over the pass and the ID Card.

To pass the time, he allows his thoughts to focus and analyze the student, what the student’s Quirk might be, and its possible uses as a Pro Hero. The student has dark brown skin, sharp lion claws with pads on the palm of her hands and her fingers, possible pads on her feet as well, wild lion’s mane of red and orange hair with yellow highlights at the tip, lion ears replacing her human ears, sharp golden eyes with pupils like a lion’s, her facial structure was that of a human’s but with signs of potential in a lion’s face – possibly has the ability to turn into an actual lion so her bone structure is setup to already have the main features of a lion to ease the strain such a change would be on her body otherwise?. There were two red lines crossing her nose, a small one closer to the bridge and a longer one closer to her mouth. A swirling tribal-like pattern crept up from her neck, passed her jawline, up to her cheek, and cupped a half-circle on the bottom of her eye with another branch making a crescent moon on the side of her left eye, each line painted in one of the colors of the raising sun. Izuku assumes these are just family markings or tribal markings and had nothing to do with her Quirk. She also has a lion’s tail, strong muscles coiling and twitching as it passively wraps itself around her waist every now and again – possibly trained up her tail to be able to use it even when in human form? She had a strong and muscled neck – possibly to strength her neck for when her lion instincts take over? Even through the uniform, Izuku could tell that she was muscular, fat turned into pure muscle. Her legs and arms could probably snap a neck with hardly a twitch from her one of her muscles, snapping a neck would be like tearing paper in half to her according to his analysis side. She’s also two heads taller than him, which was why he was 4 feet away from her to avoid putting a crick in his neck. Her Quirk is either some kind of a Transformation Quirk or something that had to do with a lion but her body gave her the features of a lion to make it easier and more bearable for her body to use, or a mixture of both a Transformation and an Emitter Quirk. Which is the most likely possibility.

“You are correct,” The ambassador says, causing Izuku to snap his neck towards her from his thinking position. “Eh?” Is all Izuku’s manages to get out. She gives him an amused look. “You were muttering.” Izuku blushes immediately and begins stuttering out apologies, to which she waves it off with her hand. “I could understand what you were saying, kid. You’re pretty good at analyzing. Planning on being in Support?” She hands him his pass and ID. He returns his ID into his wallet then puts the wallet back into his backpack, placing the pass into his pocket. Izuku shakes her head at her question, “No, Hero course.” She nods, not surprised. Over half of the students here are here for the Hero Course, after all. “Today’s testing is for the Hero Course and Support Course Heroes. Tomorrow’s exams are Gen Ed and Marketing, with Medical and Legal’s exams being the last exams for UA going on the day after tomorrow,” She informs him. Then she focuses on what she’s actually supposed to be saying, “Everything seems to be in order. My name is Samade Anika. My Quirk is Fierce Lion which gives the ability to roar like a lion and control the resulting sound waves, that is my actual Quirk with my ability to change into a lion and my lion-like instincts being my body’s reaction to better control my Quirk and not destroy my body. I am a 3rd-year Hero Course Student and I will be your student Ambassador for your exam today and the rest of the year if you get in, during this exam I will be your proctor for the written exam and your main observer for the physical. If you manage to get in, I will be the person you go to for things you don’t feel comfortable talking to teachers about but also don’t feel comfortable talking to your peers about. Basically, your personal senpai who will also be your guide for everything UA-related. Depending on what you need my help with, I can be your personal trainer, your counselor, your friend, whatever you need for whatever situations you would feel more comfortable talking to a senpai about than a teacher or your fellow classmates. Please, remember though, that I am a human being and might not be available all the time though I will try my best, if I end up being your permanent Student Ambassador. This Ambassador-First Year system ends once you reach your 2nd year, as I will have graduated and you have gotten more and more independent and less in need of my help. Do you understand?” Izuku nods, “Yes, Samade-senpai!” Samade nods, she puts the sign with Izuku’s name on it onto the table behind her then gestures for Izuku to follow her. “Let’s get going then.”

She leads him into the building. They walk for a long while, through hallways and up the stairs. She leads him into an empty classroom, marked as 3-G with a paper sign on the door calling it Exam Room #3. Izuku and her were now the only ones in the room. Most of the desks had their chairs on top of the desk with only one chair not on the desk in the front row of desks.

Izuku takes a seat at this desk when she gestures for him to do so. She closes and locks the door. Then walks to the front and leaves up a packet – there had to be at least ten pages in it. Izuku sets his backpack on the desk hook and pulls out two mechanical number two pencils, setting them down onto the desk. “Before we begin, do you have a water bottle?” She asks him.

“Uh. Yes.”

“Pull it out and set it on the desk. UA isn’t cruel enough to not allow students to get some water while taking their exam.” Izuku brings his water bottle out of his backpack, takes a sip, then re-caps and puts it on the ground to not get the desk wet. 

“This is how it will go. Every student, to avoid any cheating, has been separated into their own classroom with each student being at least several classrooms away from each other. That’s why you are alone in this classroom. About the exam itself… The written part has been separated into four different categories. The first quarter of the test will be multiple choice and focused primarily on Japanese – this means all of your Japanese courses from History to Lore –, the English language, World History focused primarily on the 21st century and the Dawn of Quirks, and Ethical Questions related to the world before Quirks. This part of the exam will be timed for an hour. Are you following me so far?” Samade-san explains. Izuku nods his head, “Hai.”

“Okay. The second part of the exam will be focused on Math and Science. For the math section, you will be allowed to have a calculator for 20 minutes then no calculator for the rest of the time. The science section is divided between No Quirk Science – there’s a small piece of Engineering in this section which is optional for Hero Course Hopefuls and non-optional for Support Hopefuls – and Quirk Science. This quarter of the written exam is a mix of multiple choice and short answer. This section will be timed for an hour and a half. Are you still following me?”

“Hai, Samade-san.”

“Good, because I’m not going to repeat myself. The third part of the exam is focused primarily on Heroics and Support. You will have Quirk Analysis related questions, Ethical and Moral Questions about Heroes and Villains, questions about what type of support items a person should use based off of what type of Quirk they have and what they should not use, questions about Heroics and where they came from. This part of the exam will test and challenge your beliefs about our society and our laws to see if you can or have the potential to handle the problems this Hero or Support Worker life will give you. This section is short answers and essay format. No, you are not required to be formal in the essays you are writing, just please use proper grammar, punctuation, and third person point of view as much as possible but if you need to use a personal anecdote for one of the questions, that is fine as long as you warn the judge who will be reading your essay somewhere with some indication of which question it is on the warning. You will be given an hour and a half to complete this section. 10-minute breaks to have a snack, take some water, go to the restroom, and walk around to wake up your legs will be given after you finish each section. Please, be quiet while walking through the hallway and don’t wander outside of this hallway area unless it is to go to the restroom. Given that you are the only one in the room, if you finish early, you don’t have to wait the entire section time to begin your break and then get started on your next exam. However, for the last section, you will have to wait the full time to begin. So, if you finish the last section before the last quarter of the exam early, you will have to wait the rest of the section time plus the 30-minute break time before you can begin the final part of the Entrance Exam. Are you following me?” She breaks into a yawn after asking that question.

Izuku nods, having been paying attention this entire time. All students had to come to UA on their exam day extremely early, as in get-up-at-4:30-and-be-at-the-school-by-6 early. But Izuku was used to waking up so early for his morning runs so he was wide awake today and heard every word. It was now 6:50. Everybody is supposed to officially begin the exam at 7, no exceptions which is why the people who live many hours away on the outskirts of Musutafu had to wake up at 4:30 or 3:30 for the poor souls who live 3 hours away from Musutafu – UA takes up half of Musutafu so the city’s a pretty small city but it’s also Hero Central for Japan and the 3-hour-away towns and cities are still considered within Musutafu’s prefecture and thus considered able to apply without having to transfer closer to have the application accepted.

Samade-san yawns again, she’s been here waiting for students’ arrivals since 5:30 and is incredibly tired. Then she says, “Sorry. The last section of the exam is the physical exam. You will get a debriefing about the physical exam during your 30-minute break – the last 10-minutes of that break will be spent by a proctor explaining the physical exam with the 20 minutes before spent eating a small lunch, restroom break, getting water, a tour around the parts of campus your pass will give you access to, and get to stretch out your muscles to prepare for the physical. You will be given 10 minutes for the actual exam, 20 minutes to be treated by our nurse which translates to either gummy bears to energize you, 20 minutes getting healed, or the rest of the afternoon and evening spending time in the infirmary. I should warn you against doing anything that will lead you to the infirmary for that usually causes the judges to give you a hard pass, not wanting to deal with a fool who gets himself so badly injured the nurse can’t heal him with 20 minutes, no matter how good his scores in the written and/or physical are. Do you understand me?” Izuku nods his head rapidly, gulping at her warning and wondering if the giant robot theory was right after all, because metal and wires and lasers and machine guns are the only thing Izuku can think of that would lead to ending up in the infirmary.

“Alright, I’m handing you the first part of the written exam then.” The clock hits 7 a minute after she gives it to him – “Begin!” – and thus start the nerve-wrecking 4-5 hours of testing that doesn’t guarantee anything no matter how wonderful you did on either part of the exam. Especially if you’re a Hero Hopeful who doesn’t pass the Moral or Ethical Questions asked throughout the exam.

Izuku walks into the auditorium with his head still throbbing from the moral questions he had just barely managed to give an answer that doesn’t sound like something a mafioso would answer. _Two years around several mafiosos, one of whom actively tried to get me to join and another of whom I’d been living around for 6 years, and I didn’t expect for me to pick up their, at best, moral ambiguity, at worst, complete moral disregard? My luck is going to run out, my answer are either going to get me a hard pass or a trip to the principal’s office on the first day with a police officer waiting to question me._ Izuku sighs. _I can’t believe I almost forgot that the exam wasn’t one of Reborn’s exam, it is UA’s. I almost gave them an answer Reborn and Iemitsu, both mafiosos, would approve of. On a moral question, no less!_ Izuku takes a seat and rubs his face, resisting the urge to scream at his own overthinking and inability to not dive deep into the rabbit role that moral and ethical questions cause him to stumble upon. _Damn you, Reborn! And your refusal to just pretend that I didn’t exist, dragging me into the situations you cause and your damn lessons with Na-kun!_ Izuku discretely pinches himself in the leg to get himself out of his head so he can focus as Present Mic comes on stage once everybody’s seated themselves. He also bites his tongue then his cheek to stop the onslaught of info dumping about Present Mic and the physical exam which wished to come pouring out, knowing from the beatings he had taken by bullies when he was younger (in both Namimori and Musutafu) how annoyed people get when he does that and what they would do to him if he did that here.

Present Mic explains the exam and what’s expected of them. _So, the robot theory was correct…_ Izuku bites harder onto his cheek, the coppery taste of blood filling his mouth. He swallows so the blood wouldn’t pool in his mouth and escape his lips. Ignoring the pain coming from his cheek.

He only let go once they are dismissed to the buses. The student ambassadors ride with them as they traveled through campus to reach their designated mock cities.

Izuku takes a drink of water then places it with his backpack into his temporary locker, having changed into clothes better suited for training. A simple grey tank top, loose dark pants, his red training shoes, and a partially-open dark green jacket. He had opted out of wearing his Flame-resistant gloves, not sure if they would be considered Support Items and deciding not to risk it because he hadn’t signed any application paper that would let him use Support Items if the gloves are considered Support Items.

Present Mic yells, “START!” The exam has begun. And Izuku takes off the moment the teacher yelled start. Two years of Reborn’s training does that to a person, the moment a signal, any signal – usually a gunshot – is given, you had better start running through the course or else your training would be harsher than it already is. Izuku had learned his lesson.

Izuku ran through side streets and parkoured through the city, switching between the outskirts and closer to the center, destroying all the robots he came across and saving anybody in the crossfire of his own actions or the actions of the others who had the same idea as him. He saw a purple-haired teen struggling. Izuku parkoured off of the roof he had been running through and approaches the teen.

“The robots have a weakness.”

The teen looks to him in confusion, revealing purple bangs under his eyes. “What?” Izuku looks at the teen. It was obvious the teen relied on his Quirk a little too much and hadn’t thought to train for moments where he couldn’t use his Quirk.

“You weren’t expecting robots, were you?” The teen sighs and shakes his head. “I was hoping there would be a human opponent, but of course this part of the exam would be focused towards physical and flashy Quirks,” the teen responds, bitterness coating his tongue. “So?” The purple haired teen’s attention snaps towards him. “What?”

Izuku shrugs, “That just means that you need to give them the middle finger. Train your body, not just your mind, so that you can fight no matter who your opponent is. If you rely too much on your Quirk, eventually you’re gonna find yourself in this kind of situation as a Hero and be useless. Civilians can and have died because the Heroes involved relied too much on their Quirk and couldn’t come up with a solution that didn’t need a Quirk to solve. So, instead of relying on your Quirk and just expecting to be placed in situations that need your Quirk, train the part of you that doesn’t use your Quirk to function, the part of you that’s Quirkless. That way, nobody else will catch you in this situation again and lives aren’t lost.” The teen thinks about it then nods.

“7 MINUTES!” Present Mic’s voice echoes. The teen gets a panicked yet resigned look on his face. “I need a human who can fight in order to gain any points. I’m not even sure if the points would even count towards me or the person who is fighting for me.” Izuku gets a thoughtful look on his face, “Is your Quirk some kind of mind control?” He looks at him in surprise and nods, a guarded look shuttering onto his face.

Izuku nods then says, “Control me then. There’s a weak point on the robots. It’s the wiring in the neck and the control panel in the back. Can you jump and flip?” The Mind Control Quirk user blinks in surprise and nods, “I took gymnastic and parkour lessons as a just-in-case scenario. Luckily, they let me join and be trained by them.” He mutters the last part.

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do then. Cross your fingers and hope the points we earn will be counted towards you.” The kid moves closer. And Izuku tells him the plan.

For the next couple of minutes, Izuku and the teen, he really needs to ask him for his name, parkoured and jumped through the mock city, destroying and disabling any robots they stumble upon, with both the teen and Izuku helping anybody they stumbled upon who needed help.

They switched it up. Sometimes, the teen would control Izuku and he would use his Flames to destroy the robots they found as the teen had instructed. Sometimes, Izuku would use 1% of OFA and help propel the Mind Control user onto the robots for the user to disable and cause a distraction while he gymnastics-and-parkour-styled to the parts of the robots he could disable. Sometimes, Izuku was the one disabling under Mind Control while the teen would distract. And Sometimes, Izuku would propel the teen to parkour onto the robot to disable and Izuku just bounced him between robots using a mixture of One For All, his Flames, and the scrap of metal he had grabbed a while back, with the teen utilizing every once of his training to parkour and gymnastics his way to either the off switch or the wiring in the neck – it’s purposefully weak wiring leading to the brain to help the non-physical Quirk users. The teen wishes they had been told this from the beginning, in the heat of battle you aren’t always going to register weaknesses unless you’re up and close. And there was no way the teen was going to be able to get up and close in his current body state, even with his parkour and gymnastics training. Not without the green-haired teen currently helping him. Sometimes, Izuku had to throw the scrap of metal to the robots chasing them because they are too busy rescuing someone to do one of the other options.

They both desperately hoped the proctors wouldn’t count points off for teaming up, the whole separating-middle-school-groups-from-each-other was obviously to stop team-ups with familiar people, they never said anything about unfamiliar people. Besides, the purple-haired team desperately needed the points and Izuku was far more used to working with a group than alone and wasn’t doing as well as he could have with a group anyways. (Why do you think he asked for the Seven Pillar system? He needed his Guardians, whom he still needs to begin searching for, and he couldn’t work without a team. Years of training with one team, even if it wasn’t his team, made it much harder for him to work solo, a fact that Reborn still tears himself up sometimes for not noticing the developing dependence. After all, with Izuku’s resistance in looking for his Guardians, it would be years before he gathered them all and he needed to be able to fight without a group of people watching his back. He hopes UA will be able to fix this problem of his. If he gets in.)

One minute is left when the Zero Pointer comes out. The two teens have reached the area of the mock city where most of the other examinees are by this time. Everybody was running away, deeming the robot not worth it.

The Mind Controller runs off as well, knowing that neither his parkour nor gymnastic skills will help him in this situation.

Izuku was about to join them when he glances behind him and sees the girl who had stopped him from face planting so early in the morning trapped underneath some rubble. He’s turning and running towards her before he’s fully registered seeing her.

The Zero Pointer draws nearer.

“Can you crawl away?!” He asks her.

“I – I think so!”

Izuku steps before her, he takes the sheet of metal and a nearby pole and uses them to prop up the rubble trapping her. Using his shoulder and upper body, as well as a .01% of OFA, he moves the rubble up then the pole and sheet of metal on both sides of her to keep it up. She starts crawling the moment the rubble’s weight is lifted from her. Once she’s at least half way out, he releases it.

A shadow covers over them. He looks up. And his eyes widen when he sees that the Zero Pointer is right on them, about to step down.

He doesn’t think, just grabs the girl with OFA and throws her out of range. The purple haired teen who had turned back and ran after Izuku ends up catching her with his body.

The Zero Pointer’s foot comes down and Izuku catches it. With flaming hands. The ground cracks under him. He grits his teeth and almost collapses from the weight, his whole body bracing the robot. Like he was holding up the sky.

The robot stops moving. Everybody stops what they were doing and stands there, watching. The teachers and student ambassadors who had been watching as judges are standing up from their seats, all eyes on City A. Watching as this kid stops the robot’s motion with his flaming hands. Green lighting coursing through his body but specifically his feet, keeping his body in place and resistant against the Zero Pointer’s attempts to move.

Izuku’s hands bent and break through the soles of the robot’s feet, gripping it tightly.

Then with a scream that shakes the area around him, he straightens up as if to push the ZP off. Izuku bursts into orange fire and green lighting as he pushes up, and a stream of Sky Flame and green burst of light and power pushes out of his body through his hands, straight into the Zero Pointer. The stream goes through its foot, out of its head. Consuming the entire left side and cremating it into oblivion. The burst, reminiscent to Tsuna’s X-Burner, ends up causing the rest of the Zero Pointer to self-destruct and explode into a million different pieces. The force, or wind pressure, of the burst had been so powerful, it pushed everything within a 5-kilometer radius away. Nearly causes several students to start flying through the air if the nearby examinees who had been smart enough to hold tightly to the ground and any bolted objects hadn’t managed to grab them in time.

The entire arena is struck silent as they watch the green-haired examinee who had caused that breathe heavily, jacket sleeves ruined, as he laughs hysterically from the pain and what he had just done. Everybody was so struck shocked by what had happened that even Present Mic took 20 more seconds to yell,

“Time’s Up!” when the exam was over.

Izuku hadn’t meant to realize that stream of fire. But there was no way he would have been able to fly up to the robot’s face or neck where the weakness was and punch it, not with the position he had been in and the little time left. So, his instincts had taken over and he had used the one technique he knew that would have both gotten more out of that position and stopped the Zero Pointer’s rampage. (Yes, Tsuna had taught him X Burner and yes, Izuku had made his own version of it. They always shared and taught each other’s techniques to each other.) Izuku would have freaked out more about using such a unique technique before judges and examinees, however. The technique took away a lot of energy to use it, especially given that One For All had apparently decided to join Sky in the technique. So, now he had to deal with Quirk exhausation, the burns caused by using such a dangerous technique without proper equipment, the bone-breaking part of the bone-breaking Quirk he had inherited, and the questions which will undoubtedly come from using and knowing such a dangerous technique when, according to official records, he had been kidnapped for 5 years and on the run for one year. Not really that much time to learn such a technique. Izuku wasn’t going to enjoy that particular conversation.

But first…

Izuku got up and climbs up from the crater he had made, walking over to the purple-haired teen and the girl he had saved, as well as the other examinees who waited at the entrance. (Luckily the teen had managed to get the girl and himself out of the mock city to the entrance where everybody else was. Yes, the crater was that big. It wasn’t that deep though.) He breathes in and out. Fingers and hands trembling occasionally, causing him to wince from the pain, his body aching and begging him to pass out, second-to-third-degree burns caking his hands, wrist, and lower arms, entire left arm broken, right kneecap fractured, left thigh burnt, throat damaged by his scream, and cheek and tongue still sore and bleeding from when he bit it.

Izuku looks to the girl who is sitting on a piece of rubble, ankle swollen. And asks her, “Are you ok?” Throat hoarse. The girl looks at him in surprise and… worry? “Y – yes. Thanks for the rescue but I should be asking you -” He turns to everybody else, worried.

“You all didn’t get hit in the crossfire, did you?” They all look at this kid who’s badly injured yet still asking them if they are okay as well. And they all think to themselves, _There is no freaking way this kid won’t get in to UA. He’s practically already a Hero!_ The other examinees shake their heads. One person stepping forward, acting as the spokesperson, and says, “No, everybody was too far away to get hit.” The green-haired teen sighs in relief, “That’s a relief.”

He then collapses to the floor, much to everybody else’s concern and panic.

Izuku walks up and sees a white ceiling.

“Please tell me I’m not in the hospital, again,” he says in a whisper.

“You’re not at the hospital, you’re in the infirmary at UA,” an unfamiliar, old voice speaks up. He carefully turns his head and sees an old woman sitting at a desk, wearing a hospital lab coat, wielding a large syringe as a cane, and a visor covering her eyes. She’s turned to face him.

It takes Izuku a few seconds of staring at her then he finally recognizes who she is. “You… you’re Recovery Girl.” The drugs and the pain is the only thing stopping Izuku from fanboying.

Recovery Girl smiles, “Yes, I am.” She turns serious as she continues, “You ended up badly injured, young man. Second-to-third degree burns, broken left arm, fractured right kneecap, second degree burn on your left thigh, bruised abdomen, hairline fractures all along your right and left fibula and tibia, black and blue bruises all over your body. It’s a damn miracle you managed to walk out of the crater you made with those injuries, most less with two fractured leg – it’s a damn miracle they didn’t break completely while you were walking!” Izuku winces as the list of injuries grows then winces when she mentions being able to walk with fractures.

_Not as bad as it could have been. I suffered worse, unfortunately._

“What.” Izuku looks up in confusion, “Eh?”

“What did you just say?”

Izuku pauses then realizes with heat growing on his cheeks, “I said that out loud…”

“Yes. Yes, you did. With the injuries you have, why do you say you suffered worse?” Recovery Girl asks him, crossing her arms.

Izuku’s eyebrow furrows, “Di – did you not get my file? I was kidnapped and tortured for 5 years and was on the run for one year.” _Technically speaking I only spent a few months kidnapped and tortured, but most of what they did was mental. I got into enough trouble in the past 6 years, plus the two years around Reborn, that all the scars to people not in the know should look like torture, self-defense wounds, fighting-to-escape wounds, and wounds from being on the run. Just please don’t ask what each scar means…_

The woman stares at him in horror and realization. Then she shakes her head and returns to a professional setting, “Anyways, I couldn’t heal the burns but I was able to heal the fractures, most of the bruises, and your broken arm. All of which should be incredibly tender, so I’d recommend not moving any part of the body as much as possible for the next few days. Do you have any burn cream?” Izuku nods his head. _Kind of have to with my “Quirk”._   
“Good. I’m assuming it’s designed for the injuries your Quirk causes you?” Izuku nods his head again.

“Ok. Use that cream for the next three weeks, apply it to the damaged area, and it should be good as new. I will warn you that my Quirk uses your energy to heal your body so you will be feeling bone-deep fatigued after the major healing I just did. Also know that I was only able to heal you while you were unconscious because your Quirk apparently keeps your body awake enough for my Quirk to take hold.” Recovery Girl informs him.

Izuku gives a small smile, “Yeah, that sounds about right. Part of my Quirk has a mental aspect that makes me aware of my surroundings and of any threat 24/7. I call it Hyper Intuition because it’s basically intuition just amplified by a lot. It’s like intuition is a lake that also runs through a stream and Hyper Intuition is an ocean which is constantly being added to by a river. I can’t turn it off so my body and mind is always partially awake in preparation for an attack. Because of this, my body and mind is also built to handle several days of no sleep, as long as I drink water every 4 hours or so. That’s why your Quirk works on me even while I’m unconscious. Though, how did you figure that out?” It had most definitely been a surprise for the Sawada Family, and Vongola, once they realized that Izuku had Hyper Intuition – luckily for Izuku and Tsuna, they weren’t related. Eventually, Izuku had just tentatively proposed that it was a leftover piece from the part of him where his Quirk would have been that his Flames now were, then declared that his Flames were his Quirk with Hyper Intuition being the main focal point for it and the Flames being the defensive and offensive response to what Hyper Intuition was seeing. Izuku knew that in actuality, his Flames aren’t actually a Quirk and Hyper Intuition is actually just an aspect Sky Flames had given him in response to his analytical mind. But in his world, that was the explanation he needed to use to explain what the Flames are without exposing Tsuna’s world, Izuku had explained to Tsuna during the events of the Future-That-Wasn’t.

Recovery Girl tells him, a little baffled as to how his body is able to do that, “Your mom, when we called her, after calming down from the news of her son’s injuries, suggested that I go ahead and heal you while you’re not awake.”

Izuku nods, “Yeah, I told Kaa-san and Tou-san in case we ever stumbled on a healer who could only heal when someone’s body is awake.”

The conversation dissolves after that with Recovery Girl leaving one last warning to not use his body too much for the next couple of days.

“Your ambassador, Samade, left your stuff on the chair next to you, by the way.” His mom takes the backpack and puts it over her shoulder as his dad helps him into the wheelchair the school gave him to use to get him to the car.

She took out a bottle of vodka once he’s left the infirmary with his mom and dad’s help, poured a drink, and downs into in one go. She stares at a file containing Midoriya Izuku’s information and a list of his injuries as she downs another drink of vodka.

“How the hell is this kid alive?” She whispers in absolute confusion to an empty infirmary room.

Izuku spends the wait for the UA Letter in absolute boredom, stuck in bed by order of his mother and his father ‘nope’ing himself out of the situation. Damn you, traitor.

He occasionally called or texted through the device Tsuna and his friends – Hayato apparently spent an entire day he was at UA taking the Exam chasing after a UMA that turned out to just be Enma trying out the test vehicle Spanner had gifted him, much to Tsuna’s exasperation. Which just left Izuku laughing hysterically and wincing in pain from his hysterical laughter, much to Tsuna’s deadpanned ‘So glad my suffering makes you happy’ pouty anger. Izuku gets rid of the pout by nose-rubbing Tsuna’s hologram figure as best he can in his recovering position. They both had been laying on their sides in their beds, a mockery of the position they used to take together when they were still little from their time in captivity.

Izuku, during one of these call sections, had quietly told Tsuna, “I hope I will find my Guardians in UA. I don’t think I can take much more of this, Na.” Tsuna had stared at him sadly but replied determinedly, “I know you will, Ku. One For All will stop your Flames from hurting you and you will find your Guardians while at UA. Don’t resign yourself to never finding them! It takes time, the way it happened for my Guardians was something we had no choice but to do if we wanted to survive all the bullshit that was happening. It was pure luck that we were all compatible, Chrome being my most compatible and Hayato being my second most compatible. Though…” Tsuna had paused here for a moment, looking like he didn’t want to say this. But Izuku had managed to convince him to speak. “My HI tells me that, had you been born here and your Flames had been something other than Sky, out of all my Guardians, you and I would have been the most compatible, we would have connected and harmonized within a few minutes of looking each other in the eyes and talking to each other.” Izuku had been shocked by the news at first then he had thought about it and told Tsuna that it made sense seeing as their Flames had reached out to each other in captivity and bonded in such a way that they are now Sky Soulmates when most other Skies either meet and are instant enemies or meet and are instant siblings-in-arms. If they were compatible and able to harmonize no matter what Flame one or the other has, it made sense that, if both of them are Skies, they would be something more than the typical Sky-Sky relationship.

He was also allowed to occasionally walks around his room and the house under severe supervision the first few days. Then the surrounding buildings after about a week because his bones and body had only been sore from the rapid healing.

2 weeks passed. Izuku healed enough that he can now walk around the neighborhood with only small winces caused by his burns stretching in a way they detested even then the burns were fading to scar tissue that would soon fade as well after a few months.

The Letter came in one early morning while Izuku was taking his shower after his morning run he had just managed to convince his mother to go back on. His Kaa-san was freaking out and crying a river with his Tou-san also silently freaking out but trying to calm her down and crying a river.

Izuku also begins crying after opening the letter to a small device to show a hologram of All Might who shows a video of Izuku asking Present Mic about the points and if the purple-haired teen he had helped would get into the Hero Course – or if it would be counted against the purple-haired teen. All Might then showed a video of Izuku rescuing the girl, and all the other people he helped with the purple-haired teen. Then a graph is shown of Izuku winning a position among the top 5 over all in the entire school not just for his physical exam but also his writing exam.

“Congratulations, Midoriya-shounen. This is your Hero Academia!”

The house once again nearly flooded with the tears the three Midoriya’s cried upon learning of Izuku’s admittance into Japan’s top hero school.


	7. Reborn Will Be Disappointed Izuku Hadn't Expected Villains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick summary of the first day, then on to the USJ Attack is what happens for this chapter.   
> I'm tired, this one took a long time to write.

Izuku wasn’t sure how to react when the strange blond kid that had been looking at him weirdly with an angry face these past few months since he met him turned out to be in the same class.

Izuku also wasn’t sure how to act around the blue-haired glasses kid and his unrelaxing attitude, but he quickly realized the kid was just the kind of socially awkward that comes from growing up rich and not being surrounded by rich entitled adults and snobby children any more. He quickly grew comfortable around him with the bubbly girl’s – “My name’s Ochako Uraraka!” – help.

The purple-haired kid he had helped during the exam – “Shinsou Hitoshi’s the name, thanks for the help by the way. Probably wouldn’t have ended up here if it wasn’t for your help.” – approached and is soon dragged into their conversation.

The blond kid looked like he wanted to explode as the four people talked.

Izuku was in his seat and ready for class before the yellow caterpillar was even fully through the door as he told the glasses-wearing kid – “My name’s Iida Tenya. Nice to meet you all.” –, “Then you didn’t understand at all if the points are your reason for rescuing someone.” Izuku falls silent as the yellow caterpillar who turned out to be their teacher – “I’m Aizawa Shouta, your homeroom teacher.” – gets himself out of the sleeping bag as everybody else takes their seat.

Izuku wasn’t sure about this physical test.

It once again was an advantage for people with physical quirks and a disadvantage for the people whose Quirk weren’t designed for physicals. Especially for people who can’t use their Quirks for tests. The decision to expel the person whose in last place is even worse.

Izuku has decided that he disliked this idea and its unfair playing field.

Against everything he was raised to do, to remain hidden, to not draw attention to himself, Izuku speaks up.

“Aizawa-sensei, not everybody can do a physical test. There are people who fair better on the field than they do on tests. There are users out there who can’t do these kinds of tests because of their Quirks. Users out there who’s Quirks weren’t designed for this kind of thing but are still perfectly capable of being heroic and doing the right thing. This kind of thing isn’t fair. And yes, I know full well that Life isn’t Fair – believe me, I know! If you want to test us on how worthy we are to be the Hero Course, then fine, by all means do so! Certainly, take out the weeds whom only add to an already corrupt system that Heroes need to change! But don’t do it through the one thing that not everybody has an advantage in! Not everybody has access to a gym, not everybody has access to a group of people willing to help them train, not everybody has the money to afford a trainer or a Quirk counselor or even physical education – many schools just don’t have the resources or the money to give people proper equipment. Hell, some people here may have only recently been able to actually train their Quirk beyond activation. Some people may have come from toxic environments that made being able to do things like this almost deadly. Some people came from environments where trying to do anything other than train your Quirk could lead to either them getting hurt or worse.” He pauses to take a breath and finishes,

“This is the first day. You don’t know our circumstances, how much we’ve actually trained, what we have access to and don’t have access to. This test is only advantageous to people who were actually able to train their Quirks and their bodies to something beyond the basics, it’s only an advantage to people with flashy and physical Quirks. Please don’t be like our old teachers and just assume that we have the things everybody else has. At least get to know where we stand in certain areas before you throw us under the bus by way of a physical and expulsion.” Izuku just dares the teacher to expel him and prove his point after that.

He is also hoping that the teacher doesn’t look to deeply into what he is saying beyond ‘kid who is insulted over how unfair the test is.’ There’s also the fact that doing the physical after what was supposedly only 10 months of physical training plus a year of running, when in reality he has 2 years of training, would have blown his cover story right out of the waters. Izuku knew that this physical would have dragged his memories of Reborn’s training right to the surface and caused him to fall right into old habits.

The conversation something like that would have caused is not a conversation he wants to have.

Luckily for Izuku, he wasn’t expelled. Unluckily, Aizawa hadn’t ignored what he was saying and continued with the physical exam.

Aizawa-sensei had changed his plan.

Aizawa had tested them instead in different fields depending on their Quirks.

Then he made them do a different field that actually makes their Quirk absolutely useless in the field. And solve the problem Quirkless.

If you failed the second half of the test and only got half-credit for the first half, you would be expelled.

Izuku didn’t complain. And neither did the others, given that a. this was better than a test that half of them would’ve had an unfair advantage in and b. the punishment will be worse if they complain as they have quickly learned with the expulsion threat.

In the second half, Yaoyorozu had to pretend that she had been captured and placed in Quirk-restraining handcuffs – no, they didn’t actually put those things on her. She had to rely on self-restraint and to resist the temptation to use her Quirk. Aizawa had given the ultimatum that if she used her Quirk in this scenario then she failed the second half of the test because she’s supposed to be in Quirk-restraining handcuffs. Izuku had suggested that she pretend she’s past her limit of Quirk usage if it would help her, that any more of using her Quirk and she will pass out. Yaoyorozu had learned fairly quickly that she relied too much on her Quirk, that some times you just had to rely on your surroundings rather than your Quirk.

She accepted this criticism easily; the exercise having made her realize this even before the criticism was given to her.

The second half of the exercise made everybody realize at some point during the test or even after that they relied too much on their Quirks. The blond kid had nearly destroyed the viewing room when he had been told that.

Izuku was the only one given the criticism that he relied too little on his Quirk. In both sections of the test, he relied very little on his Quirk. The first section only three times did he rely on it. The second section he didn’t use it at all. In fact, it looked like it was easier for him to not reach for his power and use it.

When asked why by Aizawa-sensei in private, he had shrugged and simply said, “When you’re a Late Bloomer and lived half of your life without one, sometimes you don’t remember that you have one. I just forget that I have any power other than my mind and body that I can use.” Aizawa had simply frowned at this and said nothing more, not even to complain about the change in plans.

When All Might had them do combat training the next day, Izuku didn’t know whether to be exasperated or just resigned to the knowledge that All Might did not know how to teach.

Izuku’s hero costume is a bit different from the original design, having been influenced by Reborn and his need for everybody to wear a suit in battle, including Izuku. There’s also the fact that the Namimori/Vongola scientists had made it and not the school’s Support Department. Luckily for Izuku, he had some say on what went into the costume. It has his red belt filled with different supplies ranging from smoke bombs to first aid kit; dark flexible pants with green lines acting similar to green lighting, and silver guards; his signature red shoes – he had missed these shoes, Namimori didn’t have these shoes -.

A zip-up turtleneck dark green jacket made of Kevlar and Flame-resistant material with a chest plate connected to his left shoulder’s guard; silver padded guards on his elbows; under the jacket is an orange dress shirt; brown and orange leather gauntlets with a hidden blade attached like this is _Assassin’s Creed_ (Really, Spanner? Really?); Flame-resistant gloves similar to Tsuna’s except the symbol on it was X for Decimo or the Vongola symbol, the symbol on the back of the gloves is the roman numeral I over the Midoriya Family symbol with the words ‘One Is Enough To Make A Change’ in Italian written on the surrounding circle (the last words his father had been able to speak to him before Izuku’s disappearance, Izuku had nearly flooded the house when Reborn had translated the words for him after giving him these gloves for the first time).

The last thing to complete the look is a black cloak. A homage to Tsuna and his family who had taken him in without hesitation and the rest of Vongola who considers him a member even though he never officially joined nor even unofficially despite the many incidents Reborn had forced on. The cloak reached his knees, the buttons holding it together around his neck baring the Vongola Famiglia sigil, orange Flames dancing on the hem of the cloak, the left side on his upper arm bares the symbol he and Tsuna had craved into the side of a train all those years ago in green. The words his father had spoken to him all those years ago written once again in Italian sew in a circle dead center on the back of the cloak, the red string/rope looping through and just past a little higher than the words, with the number 01 in the middle of the circle. A filtered green, silver, and black mask finishes the look (The mask is the same as Canon).

If it wasn’t obvious, Tsuna had made it his father’s words his motto while Izuku has made it his mission and his beliefs.

The battles went fairly well. Izuku had managed to end up teamed with Uraraka and facing off against the many-armed masked teen – “My name’s Mezo Shoji.” – and Iida, him and Ochako being the Hero Team, Shoji and Iida being the Villain Team. They faired well, but Izuku’s plan had worked against Iida’s speed mixed with Uraraka’s Gravity. And many body parts plus strength means nothing if you’re constantly dodging fire balls that keep appearing out of nowhere. So, his team had ended up winning.

A week has past since the first day.

They are on a bus, heading towards a training location called Unforeseen Simulations Joint or USJ. Rescue training is what Aizawa-sensei had called it.

Izuku thinks it will be exciting, Rescue being one of the Heroic things Reborn and his other mafia trainers had refused to teach him. So, this will be the first time he will get to learn how to rescue people other than himself and his teammates.

Now, if only his Intuition will stop screaming at him about danger and to not go.

After the 10th time of him wincing, grimacing, and clutching his head since they got on the bus 10 minutes ago, the frog-quirked girl – “Asui Tsu. Call me Tsu.” – asks him, “Hey, Midoriya. Are you okay?”

Izuku looks at her and shakes his head. A spike of pain rips through his eye into the back of his head. He barely manages to stop the shriek of pain that wanted to leave his lips. A whimper leaves his lips.

Izuku breathes in and out, using the techniques Iemitsu had taught him and Izuku to breathe through a Hyper Intuition ‘Danger’ Alert.

He barely notices the silence that has taken over the bus, everybody, even Mr. Aizawa, looking at Izuku in worry.

“Midoriya?” Kaminari leans over the railing, barely sitting in his seat. Aizawa gets out of his seat and kneels before Izuku, grabbing his arms to help steady him.

“Midoriya, what’s wrong? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Izuku looks at Aizawa through the tears leaking out his eyes. “I didn’t want to worry anybody.” He takes in a shaky breath. “But something’s going to happen. You know how I have a mental aspect to my Quirk?” Aizawa nods, having read his file since that first day and his outburst.

Izuku looks at him, dead serious with tears leaving his eyes. “I call it my Hyper Intuition. It has been screaming at me since we got onto the bus. And it has only gotten louder the closer we’ve been getting to the USJ.” Aizawa’s eyes widen, dread hitting him as Izuku finishes with the words he had already began to suspect since he started talking.

“All it has been screaming is ‘Danger! Danger! Don’t go! Danger!’ over and over and over again, on loop. I don’t think it’s gonna stop unless whatever is going to happen happens or we turn this bus around and take the rescue training another day.” Izuku winces as another scream breaks through his head after he finishes talking. Izuku didn’t want the rescue training to end.

Aizawa frowns and sits back on his hatches, easily balancing on the floor of the moving bus. “We can’t exactly stop the rescue training; we might end up not getting another chance until the end of the year. It’s a lot easier to explain Rescue missions with experience than in a classroom setting. But, I will call Thirteen and tell them to be pay attention and look for danger, check for anything or anyone suspicious while they’re waiting.” Aizawa turns towards Kaminari, “Kaminari, have your communications ready to go to send out a distress signal just in case. Also, just in case of any electronic interference, have your headphones set up in no-internet mode. Any sign of anything that even remotely looks like it isn’t a part of the rescue simulations, you flip the switch and send out the distress signal.” Kaminari gets serious and nods, taking off his headphones and already starting to mess with them.

“Hai, sensei. Incognito mode turned on. No-internet mode ready to be switched on. Distress signal set up and ready to be sent with a push of a button.” Kaminari puts his headphones on and gets Izuku a thumbs up. Izuku smiles and nods gratefully, the pressure and screaming lessen at the reassurance that a signal of trouble will be sent up immediately if it needs to be.

Aizawa gives Izuku some headache medicine and returns to his seat, telling him he will call Thirteen and the school to be prepared for a attack at USJ.

Nedzu gets contacted and informed by Aizawa that he will send a text for when they arrive at USJ and another text 10 minutes after for when they’ve started the rescue training. He tells the Principal that if he doesn’t receive that text 10 minutes after the arrival text or if he doesn’t receive the arrival text, then to send the Pro Heroes to the USJ because they most likely got attacked by Villains. When the Principal asks Aizawa how he knows this, Aizawa simply says, “Midoriya Izuku and the mental aspect of his Quirk which he calls Hyper Intuition.” Nedzu understands immediately and ends the call. Calling the staff and telling them about Aizawa’s plan, the staff continuing their routine as normal but ready for any attack which may come upon the USJ and UA itself.

The bus arrives at the USJ where Thirteen waits. Aizawa sends his arrival text as they walk up to Thirteen.

Izuku wraps his cloak around himself like a barrier as they walk inside of the USJ once Aizawa has finished talking to Thirteen.

Izuku stops at the door, takes out something from his belt. He had taken out a pole with two hooks on both ends. Some of the students stop and watch as he jams the hook into the door latch thing then extends the pole and jams the other hook into the door hole that stops the door. Stretched that far, the pole is not flexible enough to be removed.

He enters the rest of the way with the others. Sero, following Izuku’s caution, tapes the other door several times, making sure to cover up the latch that would have connected to the other door’s latch thing. He returns to the group once he’s finished.

Just in time for some kind of purple mist to appear and Villains to walk right out of them.

“Kaminari! Now!” Ojiro yells at him. Kaminari presses the button on his headphones, an alert gets sent.

 _Villains. Why is it always Villains?_ Izuku thinks in despair as Aizawa jumps into action to fight the Villains off. The doors try to close but are jammed.

“Move, children, move!” Thirteen yells at them. They run to the doors and freedom.

Izuku yells out to Iida, “Iida, go! Get the Pro-Heroes!” just as the mist Villian who must have been the one to transfer the Villains here starts to appear. Iida grits his teeth, knowing now’s not the time to protest, and runs. Using Engine Recipro to speed past the Villain before he can react, seeing as he appeared just as Iida was running past him, through the doors out towards UA. The rest of the class stop running and back away from the Villain.

Bakugou growls in anger but Mina grabs him by the elbow, stopping his movement, Izuku stopping him as well by gripping his other elbow.

“Do not attack!” Mina hisses at him. “We don’t know what he will do.”

“Let me go and let me at him!” Bakugou growls back, smoke sizzling from his palms.

“You’ll only make it worse. We need to find out what they’re doing here and provoking him won’t help. He can transport us, separate us. And we do not need that. We are stronger together,” Izuku murmurs to him.

“Midoriya is right, Bakugou,” Kirishima speaks up, also whispering. “No need to provoke him. Especially when he might take one of us away, as in kidnap one of us while simply separating the rest of us. We don’t know his plan.” Bakugou flinches minutely at the word kidnap, grits his teeth, and backs down, palms still sizzling.

“Let me at him later on and I won’t strike,” Bakugou mutters angrily back. The others easily agree. They move closer together and farther from the Villain who had been patiently letting them whisper furiously to each other.

 _Confident. Even with their plan obviously going down the rails, judging by how the guy with many hands is acting, he doesn’t think we Hero Students will be able to take him or any of the others down._ Izuku thinks.

“Do you know where All Might is?” The Mist Villain politely asks, “He was supposed to be here.”

The students don’t answer, warily eyeing him.

Izuku links one hand with the person closest to him, who just happens to be Shinsou, who links back. He links his other hand to the person next to him who happens to be Tsu. The class notices what he’s doing and quickly follow suit, linking hands with each other until there wasn’t a single student who didn’t have a hand on another student.

Thirteen gets in front of them and is about to use Black Hole when Izuku yells out a “Don’t! We don’t know what his Quirk might do to you if you mix Black Hole with whatever that mist is!” Thirteen stops then changes their position, still planning on fighting back even without their Quirk.

“Hm, you green-haired boy, you’re clever, aren’t you? An analysis Quirk perhaps?” The mist Villain – it’s getting real annoying not knowing his name – tilts his head. The people whose hands are griping his tighten in warning, not wanting to watch one of their own speak to a Villain who could separate anyone of them at any point.

“Don’t answer that!” Thirteen tells him.

Izuku doesn’t like the idea of interacting with them either but he has also spent the better half of two years dealing with and talking to people his world would not only classify as criminals but Supervillains. At least this one is polite and talking seems to be buying them enough time to avoid the fate of getting separated.

Izuku doesn’t move from his position in the tight huddle the class has going but he does speak up, much to the frustration and fear of the others.

“You don’t need an analysis Quirk to recognize that mixing a possible warp Quirk with a Quirk like Black Hole won’t end well for either parties.” Izuku can’t think of any other way except for talking to distract this warp Villain until Aizawa-sensei deals with the other Villains and or the Pros get here.

Life was so much easier when all he had to deal with were Flames and whatever property trouble those Flames brought to the playing field and mafia.

The Villain just chuckles in response. His Intuition stabs in warning.

“JUMP BACK!” Izuku yells and everybody jumps away from the warp hole forming on the ground.

The warp villain – seriously what is this guy’s name? Izuku is getting annoyed only calling him warp villain – tsks.

“So, you’re observant? Or your Quirk is something that warns you of trouble? How… infuriating. Yet also… useful. Master would be intrigued to have whatever Quirk you have.”

Izuku didn’t want to know. But he also knew that whoever this Master guy is, wouldn’t be able to take his Quirk given that it’s not actually a Quirk.

He said nothing and simply observed the world around him, waiting for anything else.

Aizawa was holding his own but Izuku’s Intuition kept pinging at him that there was something wrong with that creature whose brains are exposed and that the hands-covered Villain could very well order the creature to attack Aizawa at this rate if the Pros don’t get here in time to stop such an attack.

The warp Villain noticed the door. “So, that’s how you managed to stop the door from closing.”

“Pre-caution, you know how it is. These doors have a tendency to close suddenly on us when we need them open,” Thirteen quips. An obvious lie but the Villain doesn’t remark on it.

“Who are you? You never did say,” Kirishima speaks up.

“Oh, how rude of me. My name is Kurogiri, we are the League of Villains.” Kurogiri says. “We are here to kill All Might.”

The class flinch at that and take another step back. Terrified.

Next thing Izuku knew, he was falling into a lake.

He still felt hands gripping his hands, arms, and shirt. So, he knew, if nobody else, at least the people who had a hold on his body came with him.

Izuku looks up to see a Shark-Quired person heading right towards them. He flinches back and the others let go of him to also try and move back.

Then a tongue wrapped around them and ranked them up and out of the shark person’s way.

They went flying through the air, up, and onto a boat.

Asui climbs in after them.

They all coughed and tried to catch their breath.

Izuku looks up to see who’s with him.

“Roll call? Who’s here?” Izuku asks. “Midoriya Izuku.”

“Asui Tsu,” Tsu says.

“Ochako Uraraka,” She sits up and rubs her head

“Shinsou Hitoshi,” he leans his head against the wall and breathes, occasionally letting out a cough to clear his throat.

A pair of gloves wave, “Hagakure Tooru!”

Izuku looks at Hagakure, hoping that he’s looking at her face as he dryly says, having not been able to during the Villain vs Hero simulation with All Might, “When we get out of here, Hagakure, you need a better costume. What if you meet someone who’s able to cancel your Quirk? Do you really want to go around naked? If people can’t see you, how is anybody to know your injuried? Especially when the only indication we have to know you’re here is a pair of gloves and boots. I don’t mean to be harsh, but the Support Department can create you a costume that can turn invisible on and off. If not them, then one of the Support Companies U.A. is in cahoots with.”

Hagakure wilts and then rubs the back of her head. At least, he’s pretty sure that’s what she’s doing. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I didn’t even think that there might be some kind of camouflage material I can use to have a proper hero costume when I was writing my design. I’ll talk to them after this… that is if we survive.”

“Ok, hero costume change aside, can we focus on the Villains?” Ochako speaks up.

“That Kurogiri was some how able to separate us, despite us holding on to each other,” Shinsou comments.

“Either that or the others are with us in the Wreck Simulation and I just wasn’t able to see them. So, the Villains are attacking them rather than us,” Asui replies.

Izuku glances over the ship railing to see the Villains just surrounding them. “I don’t think the others are in this simulation with us. The Villains are just surrounding the boat, not attacking.”

“Do they… possibly not know what our powers are? Because if they did, even with us holding on to each other, Tsu would have been sent to the Fire Simulation area,” Hagakure says.

“You’re right. They either didn’t have the time to grab our files detailing our Quirks when they somehow got ahold of our schedule,” Izuku begins.

Shinsou finishes, “Or they were arrogant enough to believe that we wouldn’t fight back and that they didn’t need to know our Quirks to defeat a couple of hero students.”

Izuku straightens up, “Tell me your Quirks. I need to know what you guys can do to think up a plan.” He had several already in his head but it would help if he had a better idea on what they could do.

They tell him.

He nods, “Okay. I can work with that. This is what we should do.”

One of the Villains got impatient and attacked. Slicing the boat in half with water.

Izuku, Ochako, Tsu, and Shinsou were already in the air with Hagakure jumping on Villains’ heads. Shinsou yelled at one of the Villains catching his attention and used his Quirk the moment the idiot said something. He sent the Villain into attacking his comrades, Ochako helping him move through the air.

He did the same thing to two more Villains.

The Villains didn’t even realize that the boat was floating in the air as they started fighting each other.

Tsu landed in the water far away from the Villains and swam to shore, Hagakure joining her once she ran out of Villains to hop on top of.

Izuku sent a burst of Flames and OFA’s Wind Blast into the wind, creating a whirlpool and hurting many of the Villains.

Izuku landed lightly on shore and Ochako pressed her fingers together, releasing Shinsou, herself, the boat, and Hagakure who had to hold on to Asui to not float away while swimming to shore. They all landed on shore. The boat slammed into the water, creating a massive wave and knocking out the remaining water Villains.

Ochako gripped her stomach and swallowed down the bile that wanted to come out.

The others turned to her as they crouched and started carefully walking back to the plaza.

“Have you hit your limit? I tried to calculate it and make sure it wasn’t too close so that you didn’t end up passing out from vomiting too much but…” Izuku asks her in worry. She waves him off and straightens up as much as she can, breathing in and then out.

“No, not yet. My body just wasn’t expected so many altitude and pressure changes in so little time. I’ve got 100 tiny objects and several huge objects for negations left before it will actually become too much.” They nod in understanding and focus back on getting to the plaza and to safety.

They hide in the bushes and observe the plaza. All of the lackey Villains are knocked out to the floor. Thirteen, Mezou Shouji, Koji Kouda, Ashido Mina, and Hanta Sero still stand on the platform before the doors. The purple creature has moved and is attacking their sensei, the many-hands dude apparently sick of Aizawa beating up his lackeys.

The students watch cover their mouths in horror to stop from screaming as the – the hand guy called it Noumu right? – the Noumu slams their teacher’s head into the ground. Izuku watches grimly, eyes beginning to glow orange in his fury and determination. He takes a step forward, about to intervene.

The doors are knocked forward.

The dust settles to reveal All Might and the other Pro Heroes with Iida. Iida moves to Thirteen and the others as the Pro Heroes jump into action.

All Might gets to work on the Noumu, Present Mic gets Aizawa out of the way and to relative safety at the stairs. Several Pros move to the different simulation areas to retrieve the other students and take down any Villains there.

Present Mic jumps into the fight against the Noumu, yelling at it every time it got too close to where the students are. He helps lead Izuku and his group back to the stairs.

The hands guy – Shigaraki is what Kurogiri called him right? If Izuku heard correctly as he leaves the safety of the bushes to the safety of the stairs – is scratching at his neck rather aggressively even as he brags that the Noumu was built specifically to beat All Might.

Izuku’s lips pierce together as he stops and focuses on the Noumu. Rapid analysis leaves his lips in a mutter as his eyes follow the Noumu’s movement. Ochako yells at him that they needed to go. Izuku’s mind clicks.

“He has rapid regeneration, muscle strength, shock absorption, and super speed!” He yells at All Might.

“Built to defeat me, eh? Well, how bout this?” All Might says, increasing his speed and number of blows. Push everybody back.

“GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRA!!!” He yells before sending the Noumu up and out of the dome, into the atmosphere. Everybody on the hero side cheer.

They were so focused on the fight, nobody even realized Shigaraki was gone until Izuku screams. They turn quickly to see Shigaraki standing before Izuku, hand enclosed around his neck with only one pinkie raised up. Everybody froze with the students, all of them having been returned to the plaza at least, screaming, “MIDORIYA!” in panic.

Izuku was lifted off of the ground and struggling to breath, clutching desperately at the hand on his neck.

“Anybody makes one wrong move and the boy gets disintegrated!” Shigaraki howls.

Kurogiri from the plaza platform yells, “Shigaraki, that’s enough! It is time to make an educated retreat!”

Shigaraki tightens his grip and Izuku wheezes in pain, mind desperately trying to think up a plan to escape without getting disintegrated.

“You… I don’t know how you managed to do it but you’ve ruined my plans, not just once, not twice, but several times! You should disintegrate you now or better yet, give you to Sensei so that your mind can’t ruin our plans any longer!” he says to him, crazy-eyed.

Izuku in panic grabs the fingers holding him and pulls them from his neck, moving his head to look at Shigaraki. His eyes turn completely orange with green sparks glowing and moving into them. Orange fire bursts on his forehead like a crown while green lighting dances along his arms.

“I am not a toy nor yours to do what you will. I will not let another twisted person hurt my family and friends,” Izuku hisses to him. “ ** _You will not touch us, ever. You will never be able to kill my Flame. You will not touch what is mine, ever. You stupid boy._** ”

Before Shigaraki can respond, Snipe shoots his hand and arm, causing him to drop Izuku in pain as he hisses and moves back.

Before the Pros can jump in and catch him, Kurogiri opens a portal and gets them both out of there.

Izuku’s powers die down as he coughs and rubs his throat. The other students and Pros rush towards him and help him up and to the stairs.

On his way up, he looks back briefly to see Cementoss had created a barrier around All Might, letting him de-transform and escape in peace.

Izuku is sent to the hospital with the rest of his class. Apparently, one of the Villains had managed to get a lucky hit before because Izuku had a bullet in his chest. Izuku hadn’t even realized that he had gotten hit because he was so used to getting shot at by Reborn. Nobody realized until Izuku had collapsed on the floor halfway up the stairs.

Apparently, everybody was blind to blood when in the middle of a fight because most of the students hadn’t even realized where they had gotten hit and where they didn’t, having been too focused on surviving. So, as a precaution, everybody, including Iida, had been sent to the hospital. Even the ones who were only Quirk exhausted.

According to Iida, it had been two hours since the bus had reached the USJ. According to Principal Nedzu, Kaminari’s alert hadn’t reached them until 20 minutes after it had been sent. And even with Aizawa’s warning, none of the teachers had been prepared when Iida came in and confirmed the attack actually was happening.

Neither Izuku nor the others really remembered the fighting. Nor understood how the hell two hours had passed when the fighting had only been a few minutes for them.

Present Mic explained to all of them that an hour of those 2 hours had been spent by All Might fighting the Noumu with the remaining 20 minutes being of Shigaraki disappearing from the platform and taking Midoriya hostage by way of choking. With another 10 minutes spent of Izuku desperately trying to escape and everybody trying to get out of their shock before Shigaraki killed Midoriya.

Everybody sits in silence after that explanation, realizing that they spent 2 hours fighting for their lives and none of them fully remember everything that had happened. They all remember the beginning, their escape to the exit – some with the help of the Pros –, All Might’s fight, and the end of the fight. It all felt like only a few minutes had passed.

The class – who all sits in the same hospital room with only curtains separating them – turn to Midoriya, who lays in the bed near the window, breathing mask over his mouth and nose, taking in shaky breathes. Bandages are wrapped around his neck, his chest and shoulders which is hiding behind the hospital gown. Wrapped around his arms with IV line on his left arm and many other wires surrounding him, hidden by the blanket and hospital gown. There was still some left-over dirt and blood on his face. His knee and leg is wrapped up in a brace case, propped up by some pillows.

Compare that to the rest of the class who are either here for Quirk Exhaustion, visiting because they had managed to avoid leaving the platform, and or only have one or two broken bones, some bruises and scrapes, and you have an entire class riddled with guilt. Because their classmate and teacher got severely injured and they didn’t.

They had all practically demanded the hospital let them stay in the same room with Izuku, if only to remind themselves that the Villain hadn’t managed to kill their kind classmate/friend.

Bakugou, sitting across from Izuku, shakes in anger, just barely keeping his Quirk at bay. He knows that any more explosions and he risks injuring his hands to the point of no recovery and that exploded now will only make Midoriya’s condition worse and get them all separated from Izuku, which will only make the rest of the class worse. _What the hell. Why is it always Deku?_ He grits his teeth and grabs another giant cube of ice, switching it back and forth between his hands then dropping the ice in a bucket, wiping his hands with the special cloth his mother had dropped off for him, then putting his hands “calmly” on his lap.

Only to repeat the process again with a different ice cube a few minutes later because his thought process turned towards something that would normally set him off. The cloth unfortunately only works when there is water to be wiped off, or else he wouldn’t have to mix nitroglycerin with ice. However, it would be an even worse idea for nitroglycerin to be mixed with the hospital’s water, especially when they tried to drain it, so ice it was.

Izuku hasn’t woken up since they got to the hospital. The doctors had assured all of them that it was just his body catching up with and recovering from the trauma of getting hit in the chest on top of his other injuries, that he’d wake up soon. It’s been two days, everybody except Aizawa-sensei and Izuku has been released. School starts tomorrow, Izuku’s pendant has been glowing like crazy since their administration making everybody nervous, and Midoriya is still asleep.

Inko and Hisashi Midoriya both have taken up vigilante watch over Izuku, switching every two hours to let the other rest, eat, get some margin of work down, and shower. With the class visiting every chance they get.

It’s near the end of the second day that Izuku finally wakes up, much to the teary relief of the Midoriya Family.

It isn’t until visiting hours are over, when everybody is gone, that Izuku calls Tsuna. Present Mic had apparently dropped off his backpack the day after the attack.

He answers to a panicking Tsuna and Tsuna’s Guardians. Putting the device on phone mode, which he explains to the others for why they couldn’t see him, to not get caught talking to a hologram of someone who doesn’t exist. He explains what had happened to which Reborn of course scolds him for not expecting Villains, to which he deadpans that Villains don’t usually start attacking Hero students until at least 3rd year so of course he wasn’t expecting Villains. Also, Reborn, you hadn’t trained me to expect Villains, you trained me to expect mafia whose only superpowers are one of the Seven Sky Flames or one of the Seven Earth Flames. Not Quirked Villains.

He comforts Tsuna and reassures him that he is fine and no, Tsuna doesn’t need to demand the scientists to rebuild the portal machine to allow Tsuna and his Guardians to appear. Both Tsuna and Izuku lament their inability to hold each other, Tsuna unable to confirm for himself and his Flames of Izuku’s safety, Izuku unable to be held by his love and his old friends and cry in their arms about what had happened. They both settle for crying in the phone in relief of Izuku being alive and them still being able to communicate.

The release of emotions, even with the inability to do so in each other’s arms, calm them both down. Izuku soon has to end the call due to the nurse soon coming in to check up on him and the twinge of pain from his bullet wound, neck, and leg.

He sleeps a dreamless, drug-addled sleep, unaware of the storm headed his way after the words he had spoken to Shigaraki.


	8. Sports Festival Is Still A Thing For Some Reason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning on making this one longer than I decided against it. Sports Festival is still happening, just postponed for the First Years so that Izuku can recover completely from his wounds.

Everybody in the class sits in their seat and wonders how the heck Aizawa managed to escape the hospital and get here, covered head to toe in bandages.

They are always occasionally glancing at Izuku, wondering why the heck he’s here when he should be home, recovering from the mother-freaking bullet wound and his other injuries. Izuku, of course, ignores their glances and the twinges of pain throbbing at him from his leg and chest with the occasional angry flare from his neck.

He subtly pulls out a bottle of pain killers from his backpack and pops two into his mouth, dry swallowing them, when nobody’s looking. Puts the pill bottle back in his backpack.

“I’m not letting something like these injuries stop me from tor – teaching you all,” Aizawa says, voice slightly muffled from the bandages, “We have two weeks before the Sports Festival. You all need to prepare for it on top of your usual classes. These two weeks will be the Two Weeks of Hell for you.”

Everybody sits up, whispers and yells fill the air in surprise. “We’re still doing that?”

“What the hell…?”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Momo raises her hand, “Wait, sensei!”

“Yes, Momo?”

“What about Midoriya-kun’s injuries? And recovering from the trauma?” Momo asks.

“Eh? You all don’t have to worry about me!” Izuku waves his hands, “I’m going to be fine!”

Aizawa, ignoring Midoriya, answers Yaoyorozu’s question, “Principal Nedzu says that the Sports Festival is a great way to show the world that the attack hasn’t faltered Yuuei or anybody else. He also says it would be a great morale booster for everybody to continue with normal school activities and get to see each other’s Quirks in action in a contained and safe environment, after the catastrophe that was USJ. And for Midoriya and the others who were badly injured, if it has been found that none of us can go through with the Sports Festival with the injuries we have now, then the Sports Festival will either be cancelled or postponed until further notice. Meaning, depending on bad the pain is and how long the injuries will take to heal, the Sports Festival either won’t happen after all or it will be pushed back for however long the wounds completely heal and you are all in top shape enough to do the festival.”

“So, if we don’t think we’re ready for any kind of fighting, even in a controlled environment,” Ashido speaks up, “The Sports Festival won’t happen or at least, will take longer than 2 weeks before the festival happens?” Aizawa-sensei nods his head, as best he can with the injuries.

“What about the other years? Is it just our, as in First Year’s, Festival that’s getting pushed back or is it everybody’s?” Kirishima questions.

“Given that it was you First Years who were attacked, for a multitude of reasons, it is only the First Year Sports Festival that’s getting pushed back. The other years will get on the same days as usual, the only difference being that it is the Second Years starting the Sports Festival rather than you all,” Aizawa explains. “This is so that the public will still get morale boost after this horrible attack while the First Years get to recover in their own time from the traumatic event and train in time for your Festival.”

The class thinks about it. Whispers actually breaking out.

“Again, your options are A. Continue with the Festival in Two Weeks as usual. B. Postpone First Year Sports Festival until everybody is completely recovered from their injuries. Or C. Cancel the Sports Festival completely for everybody on the off chance of Villains attack again or using the Festival to gain knowledge of everybody’s Quirks,” the teacher repeats. “While the teachers and the Principal have the final say, we are letting you, the class directly attacked by Villains and still recovering from the resulting injuries, have some say as to what we will do.”

“HAAH? I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU PEOPLE ARE SO WORRIED ABOUT?!” Bakugou suddenly screams, slamming his hands onto his desk, “IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT HAPPENED TO US, LET’S SHOW THOSE PONSOES WHO’S BOSS BY PROVING TO THEM WE AREN’T THREATENED AND CONTINUE WITH THE SPORTS FESTIVAL!”

Izuku speaks up, wincing at Bakugou’s loud voice, “Bakugou-san is right, though he didn’t have to yell it. While I’m going to need a few more weeks to recover from my bullet wound and be able to breathe right, you guys shouldn’t let that stop you from enjoying the Sports Festival as it should be enjoyed. While I would rather fight until the final rounds, I can forfeit if my wound begins to act up too much for me to handle. I’m going to be fine. We should continue as usual.”

“But Midoriya, it isn’t exactly fair that we get to fight against the other classes fair and square while you have to sit in the sidelines because your wound became too much for you to ignore or because your stitches got loose,” Ojiro says, turning towards Izuku.

“Ojiro-kun is right,” Ochako says. “Everybody should get a chance to do the Sports Festival. We’ve all been looking forward to it since we were kids!”

“But the other first years…” Yaoyorozu brings up, “They’ve been looking forward for it just as much as we have. Who knows how pissed they’re going to be to learn the First Year Festival has been postponed.”

“So, just for clarity, we’re not even entertaining Option C?” Kaminari speaks up, “Because I’m all for postponing or leaving it as is, as long as we still have a Sports Festival.”

“Yes, you brain-mushing idiot,” Jirou says, annoyed.

“Hey…”

“In any case, as long as we don’t cancel, the other years get to have their festival,” Jirou continues, “Which means we won’t have an army of Second and Third Years on top of the other First Year classes coming after us for canceling their Sports Festival.”

“We should still take into account the other classes’ opinion,” Yaoyorozu tries again.

“They won’t almost killed by Villains,” Hagakure says.

“Who cares what they think?” Bakugou says arrogantly. “Just a bunch of low levels,” he gruffly mutters under his breath when it became clear nobody acknowledged his statement. Izuku looks at him, a nervous yet narrow-eyed expression crossing his face.

 _I was friends with this guy?_ He wonders.

“Postponing the Festival doesn’t mean they won’t get their festival, it just means we have to wait longer than the other years,” Sero explains. “Compared to what we went through, this is a merciful trade-off. They should be glad going to USJ for rescue training hadn’t been a joint-class event and that the only thing they get instead is a few more weeks of training.”

Aizawa speaks up, “It sounds like you all have made your decision.”

Everybody turns to the only ones who have voiced disapproval of waiting, “Bakugou? Midoriya?”

Bakugou tsks, “While I hate the idea of waiting another few weeks to pummel someone into the ground, waiting means more training, everybody gets to fight 100% and not sit it out, the other classes get to suffer in the knowledge that we saw the real world for a little longer, and I still get to legally pummel all of you into the ground. So, option B – postpone.”

Everybody sweatdrops at his response. “Midoriya?”

Izuku scratches his head, “Guys –” Everybody stares at him, some even giving the puppy-dog eyes. His chest twinges and he coughed, causing his chest to give a shriek of pain. He breathes in and out as best he can, some of the students reaching over and touching him to comfort him.

Izuku smiles in thanks then shakes his head, he sighs, “Alright. I will wait.” He looks to Eraserhead. “Option B, for me, sensei.” Those in favor of B gave a cheer.

Aizawa nods then turns to those who haven’t voiced their opinion. “Sato?”

“Postpone.”

“Iida?”

“I will have to go the same route as my comrades, sensei! Option B for me as well.”

“Yaoyorozu?” She gives a sigh.

“I guess postpone is the best option in these circumstances.”

“Todoroki?”

Todoroki opens his eyes, “While it is inconvenient with the way our schedule is, I will also have to say let’s postpone. If nothing else, it will give us more time to train after that fiasco that was USJ.”

“Kouda?”

“Option B,” he whispers.

“Shinsou?”

“USJ has taught me a lot. I’m gonna need more training than 2 weeks. Postpone.”

Aizawa nods, “Alright, I will gather up your responses and inform the staff. The whole school will be informed of our final decision by the end of the day. Until then, get the things you will need for your next class and study for next 10 minutes. I’m taking a nap.” Aizawa grabs his sleeping bag, stiffly climbed onto his desk, and – presumably – goes to sleep.

The students sweatdrop but does as he says, pulling out their next classes things and get to studying.

Later that school day, an announcement is made.

“A final decision has been made. Due to the events of the USJ and the fact that some of the 1-A students have not completely recovered from their injuries enough to safely do the festival, the First Years Sport Festival is hereby postponed to the end of the month. The other years will have their Sports Festival at normal time in two weeks. Meaning that the First Year Courses will be having their internships first before their Sports Festival, so the school will be looking for and providing the agencies willing to take on any interns at that time without the usual help of the Sports Festival to help them determine who to take on.” Principal Nedzu cheerfully says, “This should be fun!”

Loud groans of despair and outrage is heard throughout the school from the First Year Classes other than 1-A.

Second Years laugh at their despair and pain while the Third Years mourn the chance to train more in preparation of their own Sports Festival.

1-A and 1-B in particular already know that getting agencies to hire them as interns without the help of the Sports Festival will be extra hard, but 1-A is willing to make that sacrifice in the name of _everybody_ being able to do and give their all at the Sports Festival.

It was a sacrifice 1-B probably would have ripped 1-A for doing to them, if it hadn’t been for Vlad King and Aizawa stepping up and explaining that the 1-A students didn’t think it was fair that everybody else was able to give their all and fight in the Sports Festival while one of their own, who had been waiting for this chance just as much as everybody else, wasn’t able to do the same thanks to an unexpected attack.

Besides, it wasn’t like they weren’t going to do it at all. The Second Years and Third Years were still happening as planned. And the First Years will still get to do theirs, it just will take place much later than the other years’ festival.


	9. Nobody Said the Interships Would Mean Trouble, Force Damn It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whine of pain* I made this one too long...  
> Like the last chapter should have indicated, internships are happening first! Yes, this means the Hosu Incident happens early. Around the week of Second and Third Years Sports Festival.  
> Next chapter will be First Years Sports Festival!

And so,

While the Second and Third Years curse the First Years and prepare for their Sports Festival, the First Years curse Class 1-A and find themselves drowning in offers verified by UA all because the agencies are jumping at the chance to personally cultivate the untapped potential of the students before it gets tainted and seen by the Public. You would think it would be the opposite and agencies would be more hesitant but no. 

Apparently, performing in front of an audience before the agencies get to send offers have in the past caused many students to fall before their potential gets to shine in the hands of an agency. Then those potentials go on underground and end up changing their field in either new and interesting ways or create a system nobody else had thought up but had affected the specific field in leaps and bounds. So, the different agencies – Hero, Support, Business, etc. – have been looking for a chance to tap into UA students’ potential before the public affects it for years.

First Years, especially, have hidden talent and potential that agencies have been trying to get their hands on before the Public gets their hands on it for years. With them now having that chance, it isn’t too surprising to the staff that they had jumped at the chance to affect the students and cultivate at least a piece of that potential for their own.

Class 1-A especially has found itself drowning in offers.

“Aah, how the hell are there so many?” Kaminari whines as he frantically looks through his list of offers in his tablet.

“According to sensei, all they had told the agencies were the students’ names, which department and class they are in, and the names of our Quirks,” Mina says, flipping through her own list on her tablet.

“For our class, us having so many offers is probably due to our survival of the USJ,” Tokoyami replies, “We were given a taste of the real world and came out of it, not only having survived but with few injuries, but even managing to catch a few low-level Villains. All eyes are on our class because of this.”

“They’re probably looking at our survival of the USJ and thinking it was a successful capture of many Villains, sending so many offers our way because we’ve already been disillusioned to the real world of Heroes, thus won’t get in their way when real trouble comes because we already have a taste of how to handle such a situation,” Todoroki says darkly.

The whole class sighs at Todoroki’s suggestion.

“Compared to the other classes who are getting picked because the agency’s actually want them and their potential,” Uraraka slumps in her seat and looks sadly at her computer, “We’re getting picked not because of our potential but because we’re the Class that Survived a Villain Attack with Only Two Pro Heroes in Reach To Fight Immediately.”

Shinsou rubs his temple. “What’s even worse is the idea that some of these guys don’t even see it as the survival we see it as, but a success in that many Villains were captured and we heroes-in-training don’t have to go through the process of disillusionment in Second and Third Year because we already got disillusioned to what happens outside of the parties and glamour of the media.”

“Which means that 90% of these offers are only here because the agency doesn’t want to deal with a kid who doesn’t understand the reality of Heroism,” Hagakure pushes her computer away from her, and slumps back in her seat. Head presumably touching the desk behind her.

Momo, Vice President of 1-A, sighs, “While I want to believe that UA verified and made sure we didn’t end up with any such offers, only offers that were true when they said they truly wanted us…” She looks grimly at her own tablet, held loosely in her hands. “The odds aren’t looking good.”

“How are we going to be able to tell the difference between the ones who actually plan on helping us and the ones only here for the glory of claiming they trained a 1-A student?” Kouda quietly asks, switching between scrolling through his own medium-sized list on his computer and cuddling the stuffed animal bunny Izuku had given him in thanks (for letting him pet his rabbit at the hospital) for comfort.

“Maybe,” Izuku speaks up, taking his eyes off his laptop (a gift from Shouichi and Spanner he had only recently found from the backpack they had given him). The class turns towards the already-recognized-resident 1-A Strategist. “It doesn’t have to be that hard!”

“How do you mean, Midoriya?” Iida asks, easily letting Izuku have the playing field on this topic. Only a few weeks together and Izuku is already showing signs of being the resident Self-Sacrificing Strategist (with Bakugou slowly becoming the resident Demolition Strategist).

Izuku flinches when he realizes everybody’s attention was on him, but soon ignores their stares, pulling on the cloak of the Vigilante Strategist he had been for Tsuna to comfort and help him explain his cultivating idea,

“You all came up with the Buddy System while we were in the hospital, right? Uraraka-chan told me. Well, who says we only have to use it when we’re outside of UA and on field trips? Let’s use the Buddy System right now. Everybody goes to their partner, takes 10 of the offering agencies and give to the partner. Each of us looks through our partners’ ten agencies to see which one is true and which one is in for the glory, then take the complied true list and see which one would greatly benefit and cultivate us to be better. Repeat until the list of offers for all of us has been reduced to only at the most 10 offers. Then, depending on how all of us are feeling, we can either look up the 10 left over agencies ourselves and do the process of elimination ourselves or we gather up each of our leftover 10 offers, put the agencies on the board, someone looks the agencies up, do the process of elimination until there are only 20 offers left, then we vote as a class which agency would work best for which person,” Izuku suggests softly.

The class thinks about it, some softly murmuring to others about if it would be a good idea.

Aizawa opens an eyelid and says, “You all have two-and-a-half hours to decide on an agency then start on your internships the day after tomorrow. You have time today to decide, tomorrow to prepare, then leave together as a class until your train leaves to your respective Pro Heroes. Izuku’s strategy gives you actual time today to train a small bit for the Sports Festival coming up in three weeks for you all.”

The class looks at each other then agree. “We’ll do your idea, Midoriya.”

“Yeah, it’s a good idea.”

Izuku smiles happily at that, glad that they like his idea.

Iida stands up, waving a hand around, “Alright, everybody! Remember who your assigned buddy is and get to them! We have two hours to do research and then reconvene!” Everybody moves to be near their chosen partner.

Izuku looks forward and Bakugou turns around to him. Red and green clash together. The red narrows and the green quirks an eyebrow and stares back, daring him to make their confrontation in the middle of class when they need to find their internship agency. Red turns away and gets out of his seat, anger on his face, but pain flashing briefly in his eyes, as he grabs his tablet-laptop and moves to his buddy-system partner Kirishima. The green held no recognition beyond seeing another classmate and fellow Hero-In-Training in them. Bakugou buries his recognition and the red that wanted to spread and wrap around green- _orange_ - _home_ -childhood friend-turned- _My Sky_ – his victim – _~~Couldn’t pr **o** t **e** c **t** hiM **– D** es **tr** oy t **H** e **M**~~_ ~~–.~~ Bakugou sits down, scowls at his partner, and buries the familiar childhood rage that had caused him to lose his best friend ~~– _your victim, a Hero, You Villain._ A poisonous voice whispers. **_Shut up._** Red snaps at the poisonous voice. **_Protect orange-green, cover him in the Storm. And destroy all the Villains until Hero is the word orange calls us again._** It whispers to him, the new (protective, safe) rage it brings now familiar, a comfort Bakugou gladly takes.~~ He grunts at Shitty Hair’s proclamation of using the buddy system being a manly thing to do, then growls and glares at Shitty Hair’s sheepish statement of struggling to focus when it comes to researching things. “I will whoop your ass if you make me do both of our research on the agencies,” He hisses to him, smoke rising from his hand. Kirishima laughs in response, waving a hand, “Nah, nah. I’m just trying to make conversation! Though I do struggle to focus when it comes to researching, I can do it. I just need to take breaks every now and again.”

“We have an hour-and-a-half to do this before we gather back together as a class,” Bakugou snaps at him, he stabs downward at Kirishima’s computer with his pointer finger. “Get to researching, don’t waste my time, Shitty Hair.” He almost face faults on his desk at that, “Hey, my name is Kirishima!” But he gets to researching, looking at the list of 10 agencies Bakugou had sent him after sending his own.

While that was happening, Todoroki replaces the seat Bakugou had left. “Todoroki-san? Are you my partner?” Izuku blinks in confusion.

Todoroki shakes his head. Ochako speaks up, standing next to Midoriya’s desk, “I’m actually your partner, Midoriya.” Izuku looks up and smiles, “Oh, okay.”

Then he turns to Todoroki. “Then, what do you need, Todoroki-san?”

Todoroki looks at Izuku then Uraraka, eyes a glacial stare, face complete stone. “I wanted to ask you something. But it can wait.” Ochako shakes her head. “No, no, it’s okay. We can spare about 2 minutes to talk.” Izuku nods in agreement. Todoroki nods in acknowledgement then asks Izuku.

“Fire has always been destructive and painful. How can you stand to use it?”

Izuku blinks and pauses. A silence fills their area as Izuku thinks about his answer.

Then he looks at Todoroki and smiles, a soft sad smile barely lifting his lips. “You’re right. Fire can be destructive, painful if you’re not careful. It can destroy everything in its path.” Todoroki’s eyebrows furrow and his gaze looks stormy. “Then why -?” A bead of sweat falls down Uraraka’s cheek as she looks worriedly at Shouto then Izuku. Her fingers twitch by her side, the sunlight seeming to illuminate both her and Izuku.

“However,” Izuku interrupts. “Just as much as it can destroy, it can also heal. Just as it can tear a family apart, it can also forge and mend a family. Fire is just as much the Hearth as it is Destruction, just as much of a Mender as it is a Burner. In the end, Fire is whatever you use it for. Whether that is to Protect, to Heal, to Bring Life, or to Destroy, to Melt, to bring Death. My fire is whatever I want it to be because it is my power. It’s the same for your fire, isn’t it?” Shoto is frozen at that statement, not seeming to understand.

“Yeah,” Uraraka speaks up, “Besides, it isn’t like fire is the only power here that can destroy.” Izuku points at her in agreement.

“Uraraka-chan is right. Kaminari-kun could electrocute someone to death – going as far as stopping their heart with electricity. Iida could take someone’s breath away by speeding around them really quickly in a tornado to the point the air is taken away. Uraraka could float something into space where they will suffocate, freeze over, and bloat up, potentially even blowup. Yaoyorozu can kill a person with any object she knows how to create.”

Izuku continues listing ways each classmate could kill someone, “Shinsou could order someone to use their Quirk on themselves or tell them to jump off of a high place, he could even get them to ruin their own life. Ojiro could strangle someone and throw them off a cliff. Sato could throw someone into the atmosphere where they would fall to their death if the throw hadn’t already killed them. Shouji could also strangle someone to death. Your ice could freeze someone and cause them to get hypothermia and die within that ice after many, many hours of being frozen. I could kill someone with my fire or even using the mutation part of my Quirk, simply throw a punch at them, hit them right at the heart and then release the built-up energy. Bakugou could release a single large-scale or even small-scale explosion and kill everybody anywhere near the explosion or within the explosion radius. Hagakure could sneak up on someone and strange them with barbed wire or even kill them with a gun that she could then make look like they had killed themselves. Jirou could melt someone’s brain through their ears by unleashing an unholy screech upon them that’s so high pinch you can’t hear it but it’s enough to melt your mind. Mina shoots _acid_ , so she could just melt someone to death. Kirishima could stab someone with his hardened hand and go right through and hit a major vein or organ so they bleed to death. Aizawa-sensei could erase the person’s Quirk, then release his hold the moment they’re in a position to hurt themselves with their Quirk. Aoyama can shoot a laser, a _laser_ – do you know what lasers can do to people? Guy’s suddenly gonna find themselves with a quarter of their body gone. Asui could wrap her tongue around someone and strangle them, or could take them underwater and just have them drown unable to get out of her tongue’s hold; she could also yeet those people into the atmosphere or to one of the others who would kill them. Koda could order the animals to tear apart a person’s limps and eat them. Sero could tape someone up then rip it off, potentially hard enough to rip their skin off. Tokoyami could cover a person in darkness and basically hunt them through that darkness then kill them with Dark Shadow while they are haunted by the Dark.”

“It’s like Thirteen-sensei had said. Even without Quirks, you can find ways to severely hurt or kill someone, including yourself. Quirks just make it a lot easier,” Uraraka finishes, fear in her eyes towards Izuku yet a terrifying look on her face as she thinks over what Izuku had said their classmates could do to someone. Todoroki also thinks this over.

“Oi, you three, get to work!” Iida yells at them. Todoroki sighs, yet goes over to his partner who turns out to be Shouji. Ochako takes the seat he had, turning it around to face Izuku’s desk.

They send each other’s lists and get to work, occasionally making comments about the agencies they are looking through or asking the other questions.

Half an hour pass. Then,

“By the way, why was Bakugou-san calling you Deku yesterday?” Ochako asks, 20% of Izuku’s list already crossed out on her screen. Izuku has crossed out 40% of Uraraka’s list, muttering up a storm. She looks through the listing and goes to a different tab, checks that tab and its information, then crosses out several names, a frown on her lips. “Half of the information on some of your agencies is built off of conspiracy theories and I hate it,” she mutters curse words under her breath.

“I’m not sure, actually. Bakugou-san and I were apparently childhood friends when we were kids, but it had apparently developed to a pretty bad relationship, if the implied insult in the name is any indication,” Izuku sighs, crossing out 10 agencies from Uraraka’s list. “I have no memory of him though. But, if we were childhood friends, I guess the name stuck and he never got out of the habit.”

“That’s pretty mean if Deku is supposed to an insult. I’m assuming the name is supposed to mean Useless?”

“Presumably.”

“Well, I like it! When I first heard the name, I thought he was saying dekiru. Deku actually kinda sounds like ‘Dekiru!’, ‘You can do it!’, ya know?” Uraraka says excitedly, looking up at Izuku. “Can I call you Deku?”

Izuku tilts his head, pausing in his analysis of each agency, and hums. “Deku, huh.”

 _“Everybody calls me Dame-Tsuna back home. It means No good. I’m No Good-Tsuna.”_ The sound of a train rattling by passes through Izuku’s ear.

_“___-- calls me Deku. Useless. Because I don’t have any power. I’m Deku back home.” Izuku felt cold and presses closer to Tsuna, both of them trying to stay warm._

_“Dame and Deku… Wh’d a tho’ght?”_

_“We could be a Hero Duo with that name. The Dame-Deku Duo! Certainly show them, wouldn’t it?”_

Izuku remembers that Tsuna hadn’t agreed, shaking his head. _“I’m clumsy and don’t understand anything. And neither of us have any strength or power to fight off anybody. Not our bullies, force forbid someone treats us like we’re actual human beings and not some kinda disease.”_

“Deku…” Izuku mutters. “De-ki-ru.” _“MINNA! WE CAN DO IT! FIGHT WITH YOUR DYING WILL!!”_ An echo of a war cry rings in Izuku’s ear. He smiles and looks up at Uraraka, nodding. “Yeah. Deku it is.” She cheers in joy. Izuku’s eyes flash orange then return to their normal green color. _Tsuna, I’ve reclaimed a forgotten insult. Made it my own. My own symbol of Hope. If I, useless Deku, can do it, you can too. Dame-Tsuna doesn’t have to be the only you who isn’t mafia or vigilante._

They both laugh and then focus back on their work.

Two days later, everybody is packed and ready for their internships. This one would apparently be interesting given that none of the agencies they’ve picked know what to expect compared to last year.  
(You would think they would have postponed the internships like they had the Sports Festival to let people like Izuku to heal completely from their wounds, but no. UA students are on a tight schedule that can only be modified if everybody’s schedule is able to handle modification or a change in schedule. Unfortunately, this season was the only season when every agency was open and able to take on interns like the UA Students, specifically new students.)

Everybody is excited for their internships. Iida turns to his friends as his train arrives and smiles, saying, “Minna, let’s do our best!” They nod in agreement and wave goodbye as he boards his train, heading for Shikoku. They watch his train go. “I hope the Shikoku agencies won’t tear into him,” Asui says, “They’re legendary for pouring out interns who would either be too shell-shocked to continue Hero work or battle-ready for anything and everything, including strange shadow men offering power.”

“Shikoku is primarily known for its Underground Heroes and their agencies,” Izuku replies, “I figured Iida deserved to be exposed to that side of heroics, rather than the limelight heroics.”

“Huh, you’re right. Iida did grow up exposed to that side, even though Ingenium didn’t focus too much on media, so makes sense for him to focus and be exposed to the underground side that doesn’t have media focused on them,” Tsuyu says.

“Is that why you suggested Iida focus his efforts in Shikoku while we were looking over the agencies left over?” Uraraka asks. Izuku nods his head.

“Shikoku is an underground hive mind, primarily. Because of this, most of the hero agencies there are Underground Hero agencies. The Heroes there, because of the high gang and basic underground activity, focus more on Community Service, giving back to the community, rebuilding, stopping gang wars or any kind of wars within Shikoku, rescue, getting the community to work together, and stopping the distribution of drugs,” Izuku explains, “This way they can stop people from joining in on the underground activity and are helping a community constantly getting dealt hits. Iida needs the lessons Shikoku will teach him: The Media Lies, Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover, and Treat Others With Respect For You Don’t Know Their Story.”

“Isn’t Iida a little too respectful?” Uraraka asks as another train comes by and stops before them. Asui shakes her head as they wave Ashido, Bakugou, and Koda good bye. Their stops were dealt by the same train but all three were several stops apart from each other.

“No, he’s respectful towards people he respects or who earned his respect,” Tsuyu replies, “Otherwise, he’s borderline silently judging until they earn his respect or prove they’re someone he should be respecting. Or he’s completely detached from them and is just plain awkward on how to act around them.” The train leaves. Uraraka says, “Oohh.”

The next train to come a few minutes later stops a little ways ahead of them. Uraraka walks towards the train, saying and waving goodbye. She enters the last compartment.

A minute later, the train leaves.

Two more trains come, at least one classmate boards, including Asui on the second train that comes. Izuku’s train arrives, he tightly grips his backpack and costume suitcase. Takes a deep breath and walks onto the train. He takes a seat, the doors slide close, and off he goes.

Izuku leans back, holds his backpack close on his lap, and uses his legs and feet to keep his suitcase from sliding away or getting stolen.

And thinks about where everybody went.

 _We’re all scattered all over the place. Most of us are close enough to at least one other classmate that the classmate can jump in to help if need be._ Yaoyorozu had actually been the one to suggest this, keep everybody spread out enough that any attacks would also be spread out but close enough to at least one other person that it would take them only one All Might Jump to reach their location in time to help. _Todoroki is in Hosu, I’m near Hosu. Iida is in Shikoku, Hagakure is near Shikoku. Kirishima is in Fukuoka, Tokoyami is near Fukuoka. Shouji, Ojiro, Shinsou, and Sero are in different sectors of Musutafu, with Sato and Kaminari in the city over from Musutafu. Bakugou is near Hokkaido, Ashido is several train-stops from where Bakugou is. Koda is in Esuha City, Aoyama is in a different sector of Esuha City. Everybody else is somewhere between, in a different sector, or next city over from those specific spots, with Bakugou being the farthest from Musutafu. It will take him today and the rest of the night before he reaches his destination, with Koda reaching his internship agency right at dinnertime and Ashido reaching her destination around midnight._ Izuku takes a look at the group chat.

Shinsou has just been shown where he will be sleeping at his agency; Ojiro has just arrived; Shouji is walking towards his agency’s location, and Sero has one more inner-city stop before he reaches his train-stop and gets to the agency.

Iida has two more hours. Todoroki is on the same train as Izuku but in a different compartment, Izuku’s stop is actually a few stops after Todoroki’s. Kirishima has three stops left, 20 minutes to an hour between each one. Tokoyami has two stops left, an hour before Kirishima’s stop. Koda and Aoyama have decided to leave together, given that their stop is literally between the sectors they are going to; they have an hour and a half before they arrive at their respective agencies. Asui and Jirou ended up going to agencies that are only a lake boat-ride away from each other so they’re stopping together as well; Izuku is pretty sure though that Asui’s agency is one stop closer to Hosu than Jirou’s which is a train stop and a boat ride away.

His phone vibrates. Shouji has just arrived at his agency and is now on the tour.

 _We really are scattered,_ Izuku observes, _Shinsou, Ojiro, and Shouji are the only ones who are in their agencies and getting observed and introduced to the agency. Even those of us who are only a single stop away have a while to go before they reach their agency. After all, not all of the cities have their own inner-city train system, and none of us can drive yet, there’s no guarantee they even sent someone to pick us up._ Even though his intuition is mostly quiet beyond insisting that he needed to be near Hosu, he couldn’t help the feeling of wrongness and trepidation peaking up the further from his class all of them go.

He texts in the group chat.

**GreenFlamingBean**

Anybody else feel weird in not having

the class behind their back, ready to defend?

A response came immediately.

**AcidQueenOfDancing**

It does feel weird doesn’t it

**IceColdFire**

You getting a bad feeling, Midoriya?

**GreenFlamingBean**

It’s not so much a bad feeling as just not feeling comfortable

without my classmates beside me.

**YEETSaysI**

Aww, we miss you too, Deku!

**SugarKingoftheDesserts**

We could bake some pie and have ice cream to

Celebrate our first internships when we get back.

**TapeTapeZipZip**

Yeah, a party would be AWESOME

**Twinklelikeastar**

It will be as magnifique as I am!

**VrrmPresident**

Focus on the internships, for now until then.

**EarphoneJack**

You really are a cinnamon roll, Midoriya.

But a party would definitely rock.

**Ka-boom**

You’re all so weird. Annoying extras.

We’ll blow these extras away and even after the week ends

They’ll be drinking in awe of our awesomeness

WITH ME AT TOP! I’LL BLOW ALL OF YOU TO

KINGDOM COME AND SUNDAY BACK!

**Rocks**

Beautiful, Bakubro.

Don’t worry about us, Midoriya, We’ve

Got this in the bag. It’s only a week.

Not much

**UNderwaterFroppy**

Don’t finish that sentence.

**Electric Lv**

You’re gonna kill us, man!

Izuku shakes his head at his classmates, smiling. Even though they’ve only known each other for a few weeks, they already know exactly how to cheer Izuku up. The wrongness dissipates to only a low shimmer. _Must be my Sky instincts then. I’ve already found three potential Guardians among my friend group alone, makes sense it would extend to the rest of the class._ Izuku ignores the twinge of pain in his heart that wasn’t from the chest wound. He clutches his backpack closer, a frown threatening to take his smile away. He needed to tell his class and then find his Guardians quickly, everything that’s happened so far has managed to distract his Flames from attracting but it’s only a matter of time before they settle down and start doing more than the cursory glance they do all school day. He’s already starting to feel the signs of lost energy from the Sky-Guardian Deprivation. _Iemitsu-tou-san wasn’t kidding when he said Skies were rare for a reason._

Even with that knowledge, Izuku didn’t think he was ready to explain to the class, Aizawa-sensei, or the Principal his need for a Seven-Person Hero Team and why the reason is derived primarily because of his Quirk.

 _I haven’t even bonded with anybody yet and my Flames are already protesting at the idea of my nakama being so far from reach. Which means my Flames are going to be extra difficult in deciding on a Guardian and an Elemental._ Elementals are people taken under a Sky’s wing that fall under specific Guardian conditions but can’t take the space because it’s occupied but are still under the Sky’s protection. Elementals are then taken in by their respective Element’s Guardian.

Izuku worries his bottom lip for a moment, then the _ping!_ Of a message going off distracts him.

It wasn’t from the Class group chat.

It is a message from his old contact for Tsuna (transferred his Namimori friends’ contact info from his Namimori phone to the phone Tou-san had gotten him on his second month there). He brightens immediately upon seeing the icon. _Spanner must have completed connecting the phones from just device-access-texting-and-calling to standard stuff._

Tsuna had sent him a picture of Natsu curled up and cuddling against a pile of his old clothes and blankets that he hadn’t gotten to bring with him, the caption ‘I wasn’t joking when I said Natsu misses you’ popping up below it. Izuku smiles and sends back a quick ‘aww, miss you too, Natsu, Tsuna’. Then he takes a photo and sends it to Tsuna with the caption ‘omw to internships. #Postponement apparently doesn’t mean anything when you’re a hero student’. Tsuna sends back a laughing emoji and a sweating nervously emoji then a second text basically saying that he was glad he wasn’t there with Izuku to suffer in the hands of another trainer, especially one who terrifies the hero you’ve always said wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone. Izuku snorts at that, knowing that no trainer is as terrifying as Reborn, but still curious to see what this Gran Torino is like to terrify a man like All Might into submission.

Izuku shifts contacts to Spanner and Shouichi, dubbed the Mad Scientists Duo in his contacts, and spams them with ‘thank you’ texts. To which Spanner responds, ‘looks like the interdimensional phone call and text connection works’ and Shouichi sends a blushing emoji and bashful/embarrassed acceptance of Izuku’s thanks, apparently too intimidated by the spam ‘thank you’ texts to dare try and brush aside Izuku’s gratefulness for the continued ability to communicate with his Family.

The train announces the next stop to be Izuku’s. He replaces his phone, grabs his backpack and suitcase. Shifts the backpack over his shoulder and shifts the suitcase to better grab it. He moves to be closer to the doors for his stop and waits.

Izuku stares up at the old, abandoned-looking building before him. He tilts his head, double-checks the address, then shrugs, not that bothered by the idea of training in a strange place like the abandoned-looking building before him.

He walks in.

Barely even blinks at the crime scene before him, just starts muttering about how to clean the blood off and wipe the scene down to make sure he isn’t the first suspect, then about how to investigate this and how much time it will take the cops to arrive for him to figure the scene out. Then he debates with himself on whether or not to call All Might and tell him the old man in the room, possibly his old mentor, is dead.

Then he mutters to himself on how the hell his class show his mentor’s old mentor of all people to intern him. And comes to the conclusion that it was because this agency was the only one close enough to Todoroki’s internship for everybody to consider safe.

Izuku sets down his bags, takes off his shoes, “Sorry for entering.” Then walks further into the house, he moves his hand on the wall for a light and flicks it on, brightening the room.

“Cleaning supplies, cleaning supplies. Where are the cleaning supplies?” He finds them and sets them by his stuff.

Then Izuku realizes, “Ah…I need to check and make sure the body is actually dead, then call the ambulance if it’s not… Then clean up.”

The body on the floor sits up and screams, “WHY ARE YOU ONLY JUST NOW REALIZING THIS?!”

Izuku flinches back then and shrieks Tsuna-style, “HHIIIEEE! He’s ALIVE!?”

“WHY IS THAT THE PART THAT FREAKS YOU OUT?!” The old man screams back as he gets up and pulls out paper towels and a cane. He gets to work on wiping himself down while waving his cane around.

Izuku moves forward, hands raising, “Ah, mister. You need salt, vinegar, and warm water to wash out the bloodstains. Then bleach to clean up the rest of the mess. If you have the money, also replace the tatami mat tiles ruined by the blood. If not, you better start liking rugs because bloodstains rarely get out of tatami mats once they set in…” Izuku trails off, noticing the man staring at him blankly. He backs off and red lightly decorates his ears. “Haha… Wh – what? Sor- sorry, I… uh, I tend to ramble whenever… whenever. I can’t… really control it… Ple- please stop staring at me. You’re freaking me out, mister.”

The old man in a costume says, slowly, “Kid. This isn’t blood or guts. This is tomato juice and ketchup, with weiner meat.”

Izuku blinks and stares at the mess. “Oh.”

He narrows his eyes at him, “Why does a Hero-in-training like yourself know that kind of information?”

He looks at him in confusion. “Mister, did… did you not read my file? I was kidnapped for 5 years until I escaped. Is it really that hard to believe that Villains had cleanup after them? Such as getting rid of evidence like bloodstains and the like? I was practically their slave.” Izuku expertly hid the instinctive flinch at the thought of calling his Family, _Famiglia_ , his masters and him their slave – but as long as he just took the torment he and Tsuna went through that lasted for months and expanded them to years, it was a lot easier to think he was calling himself the slave of the Villains who had originally taken him. Even though therapy helped him through the experience and heal, right alongside Tsuna, a kid who was there for 5 years and on the run for one year wouldn’t have gone through therapy from that experience. In this case, Izuku had to default to the mindset he had created during those months to take control and carry him thorough anything triggering just so that he doesn’t start instinctively going through the therapy motions drilled into him to help him recover.

Izuku despises the deceit he is doing, but otherwise, the story blows over. He had already made a mistake telling the detective the truth and that was mostly because the detective’s Quirk stopped him from utilizing Reborn’s lying-and-deceiving training (the techniques are designed for Quirkless, Flame-Active or non-Active people after all; not Quirked people who’s Quirks are specifically designed to be lie detectors). He could only pray the detective kept his promise in not telling anybody. And hope that Reborn’s training will work on everybody else.

Technically speaking, he wasn’t lying, just… expanding and stretching the truth a… bit to better fit the framework he’s working with that won’t freak everybody out and have the government and underworld after his head, upon learning other dimensions are real and Midoriya had just come from one.

The old man huffs but looks furious as well. Izuku can only hope it’s towards his ex-kidnappers and not him.

“Are… you Gran Torino then?”

“Yeah, yeah. Help me clean this up, I’ll show you to your room, then we’re going outside to test how far you’ve gotten with One For All. We’re going to work to see how you utilize only One For All, then OFA with your Fire Quirk, then fight without Fire or OFA. Just Quirkless.”

Izuku, upon hearing that, nods and hides a secret smile as he gets to work helping Gran Torino clean up the mess his prank left. _Fighting without power… All that’s left is Gran Torino shooting me with bullets and then it’s just like hom – Namimori._

Gran Torino almost hits the boy with his cane when he learns Izuku is still affected by his chest wound and that Recovery Girl had only just completely healing the final parts that morning. This takes place half-way through their OFA-test-fighting.

The wound is completely healed by the time Gran Torino gets a call to come to Hosu and decides to have them continue their training there while he answers the call. 3 days have passed since his arrival.

They were on the train when the train stops and a white Noumu attacks. Gran pushes it out of the train and into a building. Izuku goes after while shouting at the civilians to evacuate the area or get to a safe bunker.

Izuku lands on the roof of the building Gran and the Noumu crashed into. He takes a moment to text in the group chat, with Aizawa and Yagi added to it, that a Noumu has attacked the train he and Gran were in, that Gran pushed it out and is fighting it now. That he doesn’t know if there are more in the Hosu area or if it’s an isolated event, but they needed backup now. His nakamas give an affirmative ‘will inform mentors’ but some indicate that they are too far away to be of any use – ‘by the time I’d show up, the fight would be over so there’s no point’ is what a translation of Bakugou’s text says. Aizawa tells him that the staff is being informed and for him to just focus on evacuating the civilians like the non-combat Heroes do in these situations. Izuku gives an acknowledgement to the order but says that no matter orders, his Intuition might not even let him do that.

Izuku puts his phone away without checking for an answer and is about to head down the stairs – whether that’s to help Gran or evacuate the civilians from the building, Izuku didn’t know yet – when his Intuition, like he predicted it would, screams in his ear and indicates that isn’t the area he’s needed in. Izuku grits his teeth in pain at the unexpected screaming, even though he had been expecting a warning. Activates One For All at 5% while mentally apologizing to his mentor and jumps off the building to the next one, relying on Intuition and his mental map of Hosu his HI is painting for him to go to the area it’s indicating needs his help.

He stops at a building, looks around, doesn’t see anything despite his HI saying this was the place, then looks down to see Iida’s brother Ingenium laying on the floor with someone Izuku instantly recognizes as the Hero Killer from the news, Stain. He glances over and sees another Pro, underground Hero Kinetic Green he categorizes, kneeling before the wall, injuried yet – covering someone, Izuku realizes. A civilian, little kid, crying and injuried as well.

Stain has his sword raised above his head towards Ingenium, about to kill.

All of this Izuku observes, recognizes, and categories within .5 seconds. Time slows down and Izuku preconstructs with the help of his analytical mind and Hyper Intuition.

_“Deku-Izuku, you have an analytical mind on top of Hyper Intuition. Use it.”_

Getting the kid and injured Kinetic Green out then attacking Stain will only lead to Ingenium’s death. Stain isn’t focused on anything else except Ingenium, use this to your advantage.

Go after Kid and Pro Hero, Ingenium’s Death 99.9% likely. Option denied.

Go after Stain by way of distraction, Ingenium gets badly injured 76% likely. Option cast aside.

Kick Stain in the head throwing him into a wall and out of commission for a few seconds, likelihood of him dropping sword and hitting Ingenium anyways 42%. Option considered.

Take sword out of his hands then kick Stain in the head throwing him into the wall and out of commission for a few seconds. Get Ingenium out of alleyway and to safety, 89% possible. Have time to save civilian and Kinetic Green from Stain? Stain will wake up by this time, 56% possible.

Knock him out after entering alleyway again, then get kid and Kinetic Green out of the alley way and to safety? 95% probability of success.

Option D taken into consideration, preconstruction applied and accepted.

Izuku moves into action, applying 20% of OFA to his speed. Goes behind him and knocks the sword out of his hand, it drops several feet away. Kicks him in the head before he can do anything more than begin to turn, sending him straight into the wall.

He grabs Ingenium, grunting at the weight, and carries him firefighter style up the building he had just been on, lays him down on the ground. He goes back into the alley before Ingenium can say anything.

Punches Stain into the wall upon seeing that he’s waking up, grabs Kinetic Green and children, throws them firefighter style over his shoulder, carefully due to their injuries. Climbs the building again by way of jumping between buildings, parkour style. Lays them on the floor next to Ingenium. He leans over the ledge, slightly to check on Stain, sees that he’s only twitching. Deactivates One For All.

Izuku turns to the kid and Pro Heroes, takes in a deep breath, pulls out his first aid kit, and gets to work on.

Half way through wrapping up Kinetic Green’s head, he remembers that he needs to call for an ambulance and a Pro Hero and police officer. He sends a mass text to his friends and teachers that he’s okay, then calls 911 and tells them that he has 3 injured people up on the roof next to an alleyway where Stain was, that he doesn’t know if he’s still there but to send a Pro Hero, preferably a team, over just in case he is. He tells them that he’s focusing on applying first aid and can’t stay on the phone any longer than this, but he hopes they managed to pin point his exact location because he doesn’t know the street name. The operator tries to protest him hanging up but he does and goes back to applying first aid. The kid has stopped crying and is staring at him with an awed, starry-eyed look.

He’s taken off his cloak to wrap around Ingenium’s abdomen to stop the bleeding side wound.

Izuku notices him looking and smiles at him. “I’m glad that you’re awake, looks like you only have a sprained leg and cut shoulder. I patched them up best I could but an actual medical professional should be coming soon to get you to the hospital and heal you up.”

“A – are you… a Hero?” they whisper to him, voice hoarse and scratchy, most likely from screaming. Unnoticed, the camera on the kid’s head records on, delievering directly to his phone where it logs the video.

Izuku smiles sheepishly now. “Hero in training, actually, but yeah. I am.” The kid turns their head to look at Kinetic Green, “Are they going to be alright?” Izuku looks at the underground hero who’s passed out now that the danger is gone, then to the kid. He licks his lips, thinks about the signs of internal bleeding, something Izuku despite his month of training under Shamal with Ryohei doesn’t have training to deal with, then decides to be truthful. The kid didn’t deserve to be lied to after the experience they just had.

“I don’t know.” He had to perform an emergency tourniquet on him, but he doesn’t know if it will be enough. The kid looks sad, turning his face to look back up at the darkening sky. Izuku focuses back on icing Ingenium’s back, using discarded pieces of wood to plank him and keep him stable as he turns him over to his back.

They sit and stare at the sky while Izuku works in silence for a few moments. He had just finished tying the last of the bandages to Ingenium and the makeshift plank when arms suddenly wrap around his waist.

Izuku stiffens for a moment then turns to look at his side where the kid had planted themselves, burying their head into his side. The ‘Thank you’ is muffled but still reaches Izuku’s ears. Izuku softens and relaxes, rubbing a hand through his hair, mindful of the blood. Then he turns and cleans up, putting the left-over supplies back into his big first aid kit and reattaching it to his belt when he’s done.

A voice suddenly speaking up behind him causes him to stiffen once more, “You’re a strange kid.” Izuku turns to face Stain, who’s bleeding from his head and crouched on the air conditioner on the other side. He moves the kid behind him, them releasing their hold, and goes to stand in front of the 3 injured people. Shifting into a defensive position.

He reactivates One For All, knowing that his Flames won’t help him in this situation, not with how they act when interacting with OFA and definitely not when they are on the brink of breaking out of his hold and searching for his future Guardians on their own. There’s also the fact that he’s out of Dying Will pills (Apparently using OFA with Flames burns through the pill faster than it can keep his Flames active in a safe way) and hasn’t yet gotten around to asking the Mad Scientists – Spanner, Talbot, Shouichi, and Giannini – if they’ve figured out a way to at least transfer items from one universe to another and vice versa.

An explosion sounds, far from their position, but close enough to where Izuku can hear the screeching of Noumu and, for the briefest of moments, the screams of civilians trying to get away. His years of spending time with Gokudera plus the weeks with Bakugou enables him to easily dismiss the explosion and remain focus on Stain and keeping his eye on the injured people.

“Those are my targets. The fakes and the kid who tried to get an autograph of Kinetic Green.” Stain says. “They are reminders of this horrid Hero system and need to be executed.” He pulls out his swords and moves to attack.

“Who claimed that you could play God?” Izuku says. Stain pauses, “What?”

“This world may have a horrible Hero system, with far too many bureaucracies taking advantage of it and putting the Heroes out to be nothing more than poster children.” Izuku takes in a breath. “That doesn’t give you the right to play God. That doesn’t give you the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner.” He points to Kinetic Green, “Kinetic Green is an Underground Hero. Underground Heroes go underground and do the dirty work and all the things Limelight Heroes never do, they are never in the media’s spotlight!” He then points to Ingenium, “Pro Hero Ingenium may be a Limelight Hero, but he’s always focused more on Hero work than his media image. Always placed saving and helping people, butting into business that isn’t his own, above the media.” He stops pointing and turns to face Stain, “And so what if a kid wants an autograph, especially from a Hero who normally doesn’t get that kind of attention?! It just means the Hero inspires the kid, maybe even convinces them to do good, to be kind, to give back to the world.”

Stain stares at the Hero-in-training, tries to butt in but Izuku steamrolls through, on a roll now that he’s gotten started.

“It isn’t just the system that’s bad, it’s a system built on a system that was already there long before Quirks came into play. You want to fix the system? How bout you look into our forgotten history and start with the system that was already in place? 1930s-1940s, Germany. A political party started raising up to power, called themselves Nazis, by way of placing the blame of the horrible economic depression that was going on, on the shoulders of the Jewish Community. Got the entirety of Germany, with only a few people struggling to know better, through propaganda and riots to turn against the Jewish community. Placed them in concentration camps, killing and raping them, and acted like they were doing God’s work. Started World War Two with the help of Japan and Italy. It wasn’t until the destruction of the Berlin Wall in the 1980s that they were completely able to realize their mistake and try and make amends for it. America since the 1400s-late 2000s, mistreated, eradicated, broken multiple treaties of, kidnapped, tortured, destroyed and discriminated against their culture and language, the Native Americans who were there from the beginning. It wasn’t until 2020 that the Native People first started to actually see progress of the US trying to apologize/make up for what they had put them through.”

“Japan. Imperial Era. Hurt and tried to erase their own Indigenous people, hurt and damaged China, Korea, Vietnam, and other Asian nations, in the name of progress and spreading their nationalism, spreading the idea of ‘how great we are’.”

“America, 1400s-late 2000s. Mistreated and erased the cultures and languages of their Black people, forced to come there through the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Slaves weren’t free according to law until late 1860s, this was after the bloodiest Civil War in human history took place after the South tried to segregate in the name of keeping their slaves. Black people were segregated until the 1960s, it wasn’t until 2023 that the racism that was still controlling the system was so-called ‘eradicated’. Reality is that it was pushed down and replaced within the system with hatred and fear towards Mutant-Quirked people. The system now being used against Mutant-Quirk users still controls people and is utilized by the public and the government to this day.”

“The hatred and fear that Non-Quirked people had towards Quirk users when they first appeared, the government utilized to their advantage. Quirk hatred was integrated into the system and never replaced. The focus of who exactly was hated and discriminated against has simply shifted from Quirked people to Non-Quirked people. I know this system to be very much real and true and integrated everywhere, because the doctor I had gone to when I was 4 had misdiagnosed me as Quirkless, all because of a toe joint that I happened to have. I was hated, mistreated, spat on, bullied, called names, made fun of, informed by my own damn teachers and the adults around me to be just deal with the bullying, that I shouldn’t be playing with the ‘Cool Kids’ anyways, and told off. I was ignored, pushed around, treated like glass, and kicked out of stores simply because the owner didn’t want to have a Quirkless kid in his store. Nobody helped me because I was diagnosed Quirkless. It was like I had a disease that nobody else wanted to have. The suicide rate for Quirkless people is 99.9% likely. That is if a Quirked person hasn’t killed you first.”

“The discrimination never went away. Just simply shifted. The system has always been broken. And the people who try to fix it are usually the ones who die first, either in the hands of the system itself, in the hands of the government, or assassinated by the 1% because they benefit off of this system,” Izuku tells Stain off. “You killing off Heroes does nothing, not even if it exposes whatever dirty laundry the Hero may or may not have.” The sounds of the ambulance reach the building until it is right at their doorstep. A team of Pro Heroes arriving with them. Help has arrived.

“You want to change or fix the system. Congratulations, you’re the same as thousands upon millions of other people who have always wanted to change the system over the millennium that Human civilization has been around.” He appears behind Stain suddenly, utilizing the distraction his rant has made to knock Stain out. He kicked his swords aside, and used Kinetic’s rope to tie him up.

He jumps down from the air conditioner and drops Stain down to the floor, walking back to the injured people just as the medics and Pro Hero team have jumped up onto the roof or gotten in through the door. Izuku makes one final statement, “Killing people doesn’t fix anything, nobody has the right to play God just because things aren’t the way they want them to be. Maybe if the media wasn’t and didn’t act so much like rapid dogs who will destroy you if you don’t play with them, Heroes would be able to focus more on their work as actual Heroes rather than the limelight and useless numbers that don’t even actually show what you’ve done. Maybe if bureaucracy wasn’t tied into Heroism, there wouldn’t be so many problems. There are a ton of maybe’s we could be talking about,” as the Pro Heroes move towards Stain, the medics move towards the injured, and he turns off One For All.

“Maybes don’t fix things. People fix things. But when you don’t even realize something needs fixing, it’s just left as is.” His hand unconsciously rises up and grasps his shoulder, an echo of phantom pain blitzing through it. “And the wound only festers and grows.”

Izuku follows the medics out, helping one medic carry the kid who had ended the video and turned off his phone beforehand.

He easily tunes out the lecture the Pros are giving him, tired now that his rage and adrenaline have faded. But glad when he realizes he hasn’t broken any of his bones, most likely because he hadn’t actually released any of the energy he had summoned.

In the hospital, he deals with the scolding Aizawa-sensei and the Chief give him. Then the kid interrupts them and says that he hadn’t actually fought Stain, only knocked him out so that he could get themself, Ingenium, and Kinetic Green out of harm’s way. He mostly spent the time doing first aid as best he could and talking. “It’s not vigilantism if the Hero-in-Training hadn’t actually fought the Villain beyond distraction and knocking out to get out of harm’s way,” the Underground Hero who had woken up before hand agrees.

In the end, the Chief lets him off with a warning but does say that the credit will be going to the Pro Hero Team so Izuku wouldn’t have to deal with the backlash. Izuku, not really caring about credit and just glad that he managed to help, agrees easily enough.

Ingenium is on his way to a full recovery, though he will be going to physical therapy and not be active for a while. Kinetic Green is also on his way to make a full recovery, though he too will be spending a few weeks in physical therapy. The kid will be going through physical therapy as well and gets to leave in a week. Izuku, having sustained no injuries, returns to Gran Torino to continue with training. Though he gets an earful from Gran for not calling for backup earlier and not staying by his side. Izuku doesn’t mention his Intuition.

Hosu Incident with the Noumus end quickly thanks to Izuku’s group chat warning, where Todoroki was able to inform the Pro Heroes he was following and they were able to spread the news down the chain of Hosu Pro Heroes. Nearby cities, thanks to Izuku’s text, was also able to quickly send in some of their Heroes through the 1-A interns sharing the message to their mentors.

The kid, having successfully made a video not yet noticed, puts the video up on HeroTube.

Within a few hours, the video has 1.4 million views.

Within a few days, the video has caught the attention of several specific people.

Izuku continues training under Gran Torino, purposefully ignoring the video the kid had apparently made without him realizing and the multiple messages coming from the group chat talking about the video. He doesn’t want to know.


	10. Truth or Lie? Sports Festival Edition, Part 1

_A train rattling onwards, never stopping._

_A child’s laughter once bright slowly turning cruel then hysterical then hiding the sobs desperately trying to get out._

_A small hand reaching out to him as blackness consumes him, screaming a name once only used as an insult._

_A shadowed man walking towards him and raising a hand towards his head. “You will stand by my side as one of us, –!” – Wait, that didn’t happen, what is this?_

_Two screaming voices begging for mercy. Clasping hands, a burning desire to stay alive, to fight, to_ Live with every ounce of their Dying Will _. Forming a flame that dances merrily and leaps to their defense, transferring easily to help break the other’s chains and encourage another fire to dance and play again._

_Blood dripping, dripping, dripping onto the floor in never-ending waves. Locking the scream which wanted to leave aching lungs back into place._

_Fight to the death._

_Fight to the death._

_Fight to the death._

_Over and over and over again until one of us manages to get the other side to stop, dead, or become intrigued enough to stop and later become friends._

Chaos in hilarious shenanigans that they would never have gotten away with back home, competing and balancing with Chaos in pain and riots and upheaval and change and the desperate need to stay together.

That was Vongola. That was Tsuna’s Famiglia. But, though he was an honorary member, it was not his Famiglia. No matter how much Grandfather Nono reassured, Tsuna comforted, and Reborn (and the other Guardians, including Chrome for some reason) nagged and tried to trick him into signing a marriage contract to be Tsuna’s spouse to make Tsuna’s Famiglia his.

It was not his Famiglia.

… That didn’t make leaving the family he’s known for 6 years behind any easier. That didn’t erase the years he spent there by the months he spent trying to un-train the Reborn-enforced Mafioso-Vigilante he had played the part of for all those years.

The knowledge that Vongola was not his, did not erase the years he spent as an adopted member, did not erase what they had taught him.

Izuku loves Tsuna, loves Vongola, loves the friends he had made through Tsuna. But he can’t help but curse them for dragging him into their shenanigans anyways.

The things that he thinks and says are not that of a Pro Hero, nor are they that of a traumatized victim who spent 5 years in the company of criminals and villains. They are that of a Mafia-raised Vigilante, one who was not able to erase the ideologies he grew up with.

With High-Specs as his new Principal’s Quirk and Principal Nedzu himself who was on Reborn-levels of Chaos, it was only a matter of time before he had gotten caught.

Izuku is tired.

What he would take to be back in time, with Tsuna in the Future-That-Never-Was, learning of his demise in Byakuran’s hands because they hadn’t managed to build a machine in time, so Izuku had ended up staying. That version of him had his entire life erased by Byakuran with TYL Tsuna being the only one who remembered him.

Those had been simpler times. Better times. Times where he had a guaranteed future, with the one he loved. Ten wonderful years spent by his side, even if in the end he had been left to be forgotten. Izuku kind of felt jealous of Future-That-Never-Was Izuku.

Never got to accomplish his dreams, left to be forgotten or treated as nothing more than a disillusion, sure,

But at least he wouldn’t be staring into the eyes of Death in Principal Nedzu, Aizawa-sensei, Yagi-sensei, Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, and Gran Torino.

His hands have been shaking since he entered this room.

This room of Death.

When he had asked if he was in trouble, as he entered the room still in his gym uniform, they had said no. That Detective Naomasa was only there to make triple sure he’s telling the truth and verify his story. It only increased Izuku’s nerves.

Izuku is tired.

He wants… His Flames curl in his chest, whimpering. OFA spreads through his veins, encircling himself and his Flames comfortingly, ready to get him out of the room if need be while also providing comfort. His muscles ache from the Quirk usage of only a few minutes ago. He ignores both voices.

Keeps his eyes on his hands.

“Problem Child,” Aizawa-sensei sighs, Izuku internally flinches at how close the nickname sounds to one of Reborn’s nicknames for him. “You aren’t in trouble. We just want to know what you meant in that video.”

“You did go off into a bit of a rant. So, many people could misinterpret want you, a Hero-In-Training, meant by the words,” Naomasa-san admits. “Many people already have misinterpreted what you meant.”

“Including the Hero Commission.” Principal Nedzu says. “I’ve already had to threaten them with legal death by way of exposing them if they didn’t back off and stay away from you, several times now. I’ve even had to call All Might in once to get them to leave.”

“I know what it may sound like,” All Might, in his true form, quickly adds in, “But you really aren’t in trouble. …I’m ashamed to admit, but your point about the system always being corrupted is true. Though the records are gone, I still remember the time before I became the Symbol of Peace. Even though this period of relative peace has lead to many advancements in our society, corruption has also been allowed to grow, as more and more Heroes have lost sight of what it meant to be a Hero.”

“Community service,” Izuku interrupts.

“What?”

Izuku looks up at them. “Community service. Heroes were originally those who helped the communities out by doing services, such as cleaning up the beach or helping someone rebuild their house after a natural disaster. There were plenty of people willing to help those who didn’t have the resources or time to complete the work or couldn’t for whatever reason. Now, there’s no one who sees it as heroic work. But I think it counts.”

They stare at him for a moment.

“… Back to my original question, what did you mean in that video?”

Izuku sighs. “No matter what type of system you create, it will always end up corrupt in some way, shape, or form – whether this happens during the generation that changed the system or many generations down the line. Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely. And all that jazz. Stain was essentially cutting off the leaves to a dying tree. Whether those leaves were healthy or not, his efforts changed nothing, only convinced the branches to grow more branches and more leaves to counteract. If you want to save a dying tree, more water and more sunlight isn’t going to fix it. Eventually, the tree has to die. Then you have to go in and remove the tree at its roots so that if the tree died because of some parasite or illness, it doesn’t spread to the rest of the forest. Then you go in and fix the dirt. Dig a hole, add in more fresh dirt, plant the seeds or a baby tree. Add more fresh dirt and mulch, water it when needed. Let nature do the rest. If you want to strength the tree, graft it. That’s how you fix a dying tree that can’t be saved.”

“What Stain was doing was trimming parts of a dying tree. But it wasn’t a parasite or an illness that was causing the tree to die. Everything comes to an end eventually.” Izuku says sadly. The adults in the room didn’t like how close it sounds to Izuku speaking in experience.

All Might seems to catch on to Izuku’s actual message to Stain the quickest, because he finishes Izuku’s statement with almost awed-realization, “But new life always comes after death, so hope can be found even in death.” Izuku smiles, sadness still tucking on his face, and nods.

“That was what you meant?” Nezu looks curious.

Izuku’s face turns sheepish, “Yeah… But I was so angry at the time, it’s unfortunate I wasn’t able to transfer across what I actually meant.” He laughs then, “Even so. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to tell people what I actually meant.”

Nedzu’s curiousity has turned into sheer glee, the other adults slowly scooting away as the principal animal practically launches himself at Izuku and starts viciously quizzing Izuku.

Aizawa’s face fills slowly up with dread and horror as he whispers, “This was his plan. Bring Izuku in to ask a question about something then entrap him into revealing his analysis ability we had noticed weeks ago.”

Gran Torino and Naomasa look at Aizawa and Toshinori as they shiver in horror. “What are you talking about?”

“While I was with him during one of his infirmary visits after the USJ, I noticed these notebooks he would write in all the time,” Toshinori says softly. “I didn’t think anything of the notebooks during those months before UA, then I overheard his muttering. That boy is an analysis genius. I informed Aizawa-kun, he managed to get ahold of one of the apparently many notebooks which, according to Aizawa, were filled with codes and a written language that took him weeks to decipher.”

“Once I did,” Aizawa easily picks up, “It made me realize the muttering Midoriya did wasn’t just a way for him to think, but it was him analyzing things. That notebook from the few bits I had managed to decipher had incredible analysis, notes, and ideas for fighting villains, creating teams, breaking down Quirks, etc.”

Toshinori continues, sweating as Izuku and Nedzu go deeper into their own little bubble world, analyzing and breaking down different scenarios and Quirks and such, “We of the UA Staff swore that never will Principal Nedzu get his hands on Young Midoriya and his analysis. We should have known.”

Naomasa sighs, “Well. Everything seems to check out, I’ve still no idea why I’m here. So, I’m going to go.” Detective Tsukauchi gets up and leaves. Gran Torino leaves with him after hitting Toshinori over the head, “That’s for not telling me about his analysis abilities,” he grumbles as he walks away.

Principal Nedzu has claimed 2 hours of Izuku’s study time every Saturday and Friday to do analysis work with him. He’s expected to do the Analysis half of Business and Support Departments’ Final Exam in return for this new apprenticeship/class with Principal Nedzu. All of UA (and the Namimori-Vongola Crew, other than Reborn who was smirking smugly and satisfactorly, once they found out) shudder in pity (towards Izuku), horror, and dread. With 1-A being the most afraid for, even if they can’t remember exactly, they had a peak at Midoriya’s ability; with the Principal teaching and honing his skill, they dread to find out what will happen to them at the Sports Festival. They do pity him for having to take two Final Exams, even if he’s only taking one section of the second exam.

The Sports Festival is today and Izuku is already tired of the others’ endless questions about the video. Though he was happy to learn from Iida-kun that his brother, Ingenium, is okay and making a speedy recovery.

Luckily, everybody seems to accept his reasoning for the rant as simple exhaustion and frustration towards a Villain who thinks he can change the system just by killing people. _As Hana would say, Cool Motive, Still Murder,_ Izuku hysterically thinks as he changes into his gym uniform in the arena’s locker room, having already thrown himself into hysterical laughter earlier that morning with thinking of how Hana and Hayato would think of the Hero Killer situation, much to the concern of his mother.

 _I wonder how much fun Dad is having, running around the streets of Kamino Ward, playing Hide-and-Seek with LOV’s lackeys and Noumus._ Izuku had thought just as Todoroki suddenly and out of no where declares war on him. Bakugou shrieks and yells something about declarations of war and betting everybody to kingdom come, something or another about being the best, while Iida tries to get them both to stop.

Everybody goes quiet when Izuku blinks. Holding their breath and waiting for their unofficial leader’s returning response.

“Despite what the adults might tell you, it’s not a competition. It’s a chance to show off our powers and tell the world that ‘We are Here’. Declarations of war aren’t going to get you anywhere, only going to cause feuds and rivalry. Rivalry isn’t always healthy or the right choice. Especially not in our situation.” Izuku looks around, everybody has straightened up at his words. Then turns back to Todoroki who’s looking at him with eyes slightly wide.

“ _Everybody_ is watching us. Including Villains. I don’t want to break on anybody’s fun, it is important that we have fun here. But the League of Villains, with the USJ Attack and Hosu Attack, might as well have declared war on all of us. We can’t afford rivalry, discontent, or butting-of-heads here and especially not out there. In order for us to present a strong front, we need to be unified everywhere else, including internally. For that reason, Todoroki-kun, I am going to decline your declaration of war.” He then relaxes and shrugs sheepishly.

“Let’s um, let’s do our best though, ne?” And just like, Midoriya went from natural-born leader to the shy, anxious but calming boy they’ve all come to know and love. It’s such a quick switch in personality that everybody is thrown off by it for a moment as Izuku leaves the room.

“What… the heck was that?” Ojiro wonders, shaking off the feelings he’s still trying to decipher that had welled up during Izuku’s unprompted speech.

Tokoyami was so shaken up that Dark Shadow had actually come out to ask him what’s wrong. “Midoriya… has an inner darkness and power within him that controls us all, but also fills us with unshakeable courage and kindness,” he mutters shakly, “We would gladly follow him to the end of the world if he so wishes when that… whatever it was fills the air.”

Bakugou is cursing in frustration and anger that he managed to let that damn feeling wrap itself around him again. _But_ , he allows internally, hiding a smirk, _It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen that side of him._ Not since they were 4 years old. _Looks like our theory of it being part of his Quirk, from before his… misdiagnosis, was correct after all._ It wasn’t a natural thing yet Deku pulled it off like it was.

The first event comes and goes – an obstacle course, what the hell? It’s Reborn all over again! –, Izuku pulling first via mime-field-flying. It wasn’t until he crossed the finish line that his plan was exactly something Reborn would have made Tsuna and him do via shooting at the mimes and them to get across the mime field obstacle course. He almost breaks down crying at the realization.

(Somewhere else, Reborn-in-a-disguise sneezes as he follows Tsuna through the forest obstacle course. It causes his shot to go wide and explode the tree that Tsuna had just been jumping from. _Whoever’s thinking about me, better be prepared for a body filled with lead!_ He thinks in irritation. At least Dame-Tsuna was learning how to change his trajectory in the air without his Flames after jumping on something that exploded, out of this. Ah, there he goes, falling to the ground from 20 feet above after miscalculating the trajectory change and slipping, screaming that damn scream of his. Ah well, more tor – tutoring for him!)

Izuku may or may not have some unacknowledged trauma coming from his time in Namimori dealing with Reborn’s tort – tutoring.

The point is, Izuku won first place for the first course without using his powers.

Second round, everybody was teamed up against him, including 1-A despite his speech, because he earned 10 million points out of it. He teamed up with Hatsume Mei of Support Course, Ochako, Tokoyami, and Shouji. They spent most of their time on defense, taking borderline teams’ bandannas, with tons of flying to avoid attackers. Did this mostly without using his power, beyond some short bursts of Flame to help (change, switch, or fix) their trajectory and only one OFA-powered kick to upon the ground to make the whole area covered in a dirty dust cloud and using Shouji’s and Ochako’s Quirk and Dark Shadow to stop attacks and for them to take their own bandannas.

In the end, Midoriya’s team kept their first-place position by keeping their 10 million and also getting ahold of and defending their taking of others’ points. Bakugou’s team came up second place (yes, he was pissed about it), with Momo’s team third place and Todoroki’s team fourth.

Izuku, Hatsume, Ochako, Shouji, Tokoyami, Momo, Iida, Shinsou, Shiozaki, Seto, Ojiro, Bakugou, Sato, Hagakure, Jirou, Mina, and Uzumaki Shinichi of General Education all made it into the final round: 1-on-1 battle.

They all were on break. Izuku was on his way to get a snack when a voice calls out to him, “Midoriya-san!” He stops in surprise and turns around to see it was the General Education kid who’d made it into the next course.

The kid is tall, yet sickly looking. Hunches over himself almost unconsciously to make himself seem small. He has long, curly white hair often put up into a half-high-ponytail with several strands falling into his face. The gym uniform covers it up, but it was not zipped up all the way, leaving the long and harsh-looking, lighting-like scar that covers his neck and looks like a handprint in full display. Freckles dot his entire body but the most obvious ones are the four freckles on his cheeks, like Izuku’s. He had wide, yet sharp lighting green eyes, with the same look in them that sometimes Izuku saw in the mirror and couldn’t get rid of. Despite his sickly look, made only more evident by his pale skin (yet it was obvious he had spent many years out in the sun too), you could tell that he was strong, but somehow wasn’t used to showing it.

Izuku is surprised for this fellow student to approach him, especially given it was unlike for them to interact with each other in a normal school setting.

“Uh, hi? You’re… Uzumaki Shinichi of the General Education Course, right?” Izuku asks in response, he gets a nod in confirmation, “Do you need something?”

Uzumaki shifts his hands for a moment, clenching and unclenching them. Then he takes in a breath and says, “Do you know the story of the Three Musketeers?” Izuku’s eyes widen in surprise, he shifts his feet and focuses more on the first-year Gen Ed kid. He gives a nod and answers with a hint of caution, testing the waters to see if this was real and not a trick.

“Yes, I know the story. One stood tall even as he fell in battle, another told lies and ruined the ones he called friends for he had been promised power, and the last vanished without a word to avoid his once-brother’s destructive campaign. All For One and One For All, United to the End, did not answer the call.”

“But did you know the last did not choose to vanish? The last brother ended up in a new world, one that did not have power like the Three Musketeers’ world had,” Uzumaki responds in kind, with a smile.

Izuku’s own smile shows up as well. “You are right. He saw corruption and built a haven for those people, staying to form and defend the town that had taken in his once-an-adult-now-a-child form. From the ashes, he defended and loved his new people.”

“United with his new brothers and sister, unified under one banner like his brothers so long ago, they fought and protected their new way of life and people from the corruption,” they completed the code. Uzumaki frowns and adds, “Until once again betrayed by a brother, this one grief-striken and crazed because of it, the once-Musketeer had to flee once more.”

Izuku snorts as he responds, “Until his descendent slapped some sense into the crazed brother who dies soon after.” Uzumaki snickers.

Izuku motions around him, “Let’s uh… Let’s go somewhere more… private.”

They find an empty room to converse in, ‘Uzumaki’ locking and weaving an illusion along the door to give them better privacy.

Izuku turns around to face his visitor, smiling, “It’s good to see you,”

The illusion surrounding ‘Uzumaki’ fades away to reveal Dokuro Chrome with her staff clipped to her back with a sheath, “Chrome-chan.” Chrome smiles back as well. “It’s good to see you too, Izuku-kun.”

They hug, then separate and take a seat in the left-behind chairs facing each other.

“Boss misses you,” Chrome opens the conversation a few seconds later. “I miss him too but that doesn’t explain what you’re doing here. Or how you’re here, Chrome, disguised as a student! …Please tell me you hadn’t taken an actual Uzumaki Shinichi’s life.”

“Well, technically speaking, Uzumaki Shinichi did exist,” she hesitantly begins.

“Chrome!”

“But not in this time period! I didn’t kill anyone to be here!”

“…Which time period?”

“According to this world? You all call the time period he lived in the Dawn of Quirks or Early Quirks Era.”

“…Please tell me the disguise you were in was actually what Uzumaki Shinichi looked like…”

“Well, yes it was. Why? What’s so special about him?”

“Chrome, Uzumaki Shinichi, or as his name actually was before he became a Hero Shigaraki Shinichi, was the First Pro Hero. Also, the first holder of my Quirk, One For All. Even though you’re using his alias last name, First is not only All For One’s first Hero enemy but also his Little Brother. The fact that you also included the injury which had ended up killing him as a scar… Villains are watching this event. Everybody is watching this event.”

“…And how do you know this?”

“My dad is All For One’s son, he kind of has to know this. He told me this when I came home to explain to me why he was gone all those years. But he’s also an International Underground Hero which made coming home almost difficult to do anyways even if he wasn’t AFO’s son.” _The fact that Tou-san also takes more after his Uncle than his father, if Chrome’s disguise is as accurate as I’m assuming it is, then actually seeing a version of his brother on screen at a Hero’s competition must be really pissing All For One off… Good. He was getting too happy anyways._

Izuku shakes his head. “NEVER MIND THAT! While I’m happy to see you, what are you doing here?” Chrome smiles sheepishly.

“Well, about 2 months ago, while you were taking the Entrance Exam, Lambo accidently activated the just-rebuilt-but-not-completed portal machine. One thing lead to another and I ended up here. So, I decided, might as well keep an eye on you. But there was no part of me that wanted to take the Hero Course Exam or actually train to be a Hero, despite Boss working towards returning Vongola to its root, vigilante organization days, so I went with General Education. I almost passed out by the end of the exam with the number of illusions I had to create to get in and make my disguise work. To be honest, I just picked a unique, hasn’t been seen in a while but still common enough to raise only one eyebrow, name at random and ended up with Uzumaki from the Shinobi Eras and Shinichi from the Dawn of Quirks Era.” Chrome looks almost ashamed at how she ended up with the disguise she is using. Well, this is Vongola, no matter what type of organization it is, the way she chose her disguise is almost amateur-illusionist-levels of foolish and threatening to expose everything.

“I wasn’t able to approach before, I hadn’t realized until after the fact just how different our classes, schedules, and workload would be. Suddenly, I just didn’t have the time to even keep an eye on you, much less approach you with my situation,” Chrome slumps in shame and sorrow. Feeling like she had failed her Boss and Izuku, even though this wasn’t even a mission she had been given, but an accident.

Izuku waves his hands, flustered but happy that she cared enough to do this even though it was an accident that lead her here, “No, no, it’s alright, Chrome! You worked with what you had! Be- besides, I’m happy that you’re here. But if you’re here, then I’m guessing the Chrome I’d been interacting with these past 2 months was actually Mukuro then?” She nods.

They leave with room, with 5 minutes left on their break. Chrome back into her Uzumaki disguise. With a plan to explain ‘Uzumaki’s disappearance in 3 months’ time – so around Finals week –. Which is about the time when the Mad Scientists finish the portal that will allow Tsuna and Izuku to visit each other and their world’s for about 2 months with the portals opening anytime the person with the activator wants to return home (that is, if their calculations finally work properly), instead of the one-way trip they had originally built the gigantic machine for.

Izuku interrupts the confrontation and stares Endeavor down until he leaves. 3 minutes left on the clock. He returns to the bleachers, with snacks and drinks, 10 seconds left on the break. He drops the snacks and drinks off on the table left behind the bleachers for such things, then practically sprints to the locker rooms, making it just in time for Present Mic’s announcement of the start of the final course.

He’s giving an explanation as Izuku rests in the locker room, waiting for the first round.

Izuku chuckles, fingers lightly touching the case of Dying Will Pills, which Chrome happened to have on her when the portal activated, in his pocket. The school already had it listed that he needed the pill, for now, to activate his Quirk so it should be fine.

His Box Animal, Mamoru, lies in his backpack, not registered in school records yet so he can’t use it – one thing he can hold over the Villains’ heads –; having been given to him by Chrome who apparently had gotten into the habit of carrying his spare pill case and Box Animal upon realizing he hadn’t actually been given the things Spanner and Shouichi had thought they had given to him. (Yes, Tou-san, Kaa-san, he had thanked her for returning them to him.)

He stands before the entrance leading to the field, waiting for his name to be called.

This is where the Fun begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And... Chrome arrives at the scene! Not here to stay and most certainly not here to be a Hero. So, she's not going to be here by the time shit hits the fan, aka Kamino Ward and its aftermath. I can't remember when exactly each exam took place before the Villain attacks that happen before or after so Timeline's out of wack. Midterms happening literally the week after Sports Festival. Then it's Shopping Trip, Survival Training, I-Island/Shield Incident (only briefly mentioned though), Summer time, Finals, Kamino Ward (you'll see why Summer Camp and Kamino Ward aren't together once those chapters hit), classes and more classes - maybe questions asked maybe not, Provisional Exam, Interships, Overhaul Arc, training and dreams - this arc might not happen because S5 ain't out yet, so I don't know completely what happens here in canon beyond the few spoilers I've stumbled upon. 
> 
> Izuku has a ton of unresolved trauma from both his time in captivity - he didn't talk about everything in therapy - and his time in Namimori, both before Reborn and after Reborn. This is mostly Izuku's perspective so I didn't point it out, but both Aizawa, Nedzu, and Toshinori have noticed the signs of this trauma, and so have his classmates though they aren't yet trained and fine-tuned to completely recognize and identify a traumatized victim much less how to work with them in a healthy and safe way and environment.


	11. Truth or Lie? Sports Festival Edition, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant for this one to be short... *crying emoji* BTW, the word 'cripple' or 'crippled' is used a lot to describe what Todoroki did to his fire in this chapter, so beware for those of you triggered by the word.  
> I am so sorry for the longer than normal chapter, this one is ... good sky, 7,328 words. Or 17 pages according to Word doc.   
> Also, remember, this fic is mostly in Izuku's POV, other than when it needs to be omninous. So, you're not going to hear other characters' thoughts and feelings on different things, only implied references and the implication of conversations on the mentioned topics, for the most part. Mostly because the fic is too long already and I don't want to get behind the plot anymore than I already am.

Present Mic calls them out. Izuku takes in a deep breath and walks out into the arena the moment Present Mic introduces him. The crowd cheers. They both step up onto the platform which will be their place of fighting.

Midnight cracks her whip and details the rules.

Someone in the crowd finally recognizes Izuku from something else and tells it to their companion. One of the news’ sound-boom mics catch the conversation,

“Hey, isn’t that Midoriya kid the Quirkless kid who had gone missing 6 years ago? You know, from that video that had gone viral?”

“Now that you say that, yeah. I think it is the same kid. I think – I think it’s the same kid who also ripped into the Hero Killer about his actions from that other video too. I – doesn’t the official record on what happened to him state that he was in those Villian’s clutches for 5 years until he managed to get away and was on the run for an entire year until a Hero stumbled upon him after a fight?”

“I think so, yeah. I think it also said that the same Quirkless kid, whose doctor he had gone to when he was 4 had misdiagnosed him as Quirkless, had activated his dormant Quirk out of sure need to survive – they say the kid himself had actually admitted that if that fire Quirk of his hadn’t activated when it did… the Midoriya kid wouldn’t even be alive right now, he – he would be dead!”

“The poor kid. And only a few months after finally no longer being on the run and back with his family, to face off against another group of Villains in a place that was supposed to keep him safe from those people… I can’t really blame him for snapping at the Hero Killer like he had during the Hosu Attack,” Their companion said and the original speaker hummed in agreement.

Back at the fight, after the pause, Midnight cracks the whip and declares start.

For a moment, they simply stand there, then Shinsou starts speaking. Izuku, having already spent weeks training alongside Shinsou and years fighting opponents with Vongola who for some reason like to monologue, easily tunes him out. He analyzes the situation for a moment, thinks back to how he won the obstacle course and the standing horse course, and makes his decision.

Shinsou goes into a first fighting position, recognizing that Izuku wasn’t going to answer him, and tries to figure out which Quirk Izuku will use.

Izuku uses neither.

He runs at Shinsou, ducks under his guard and defensive punch, and tap-punches different parts of his body. First his arms, legs – those he blocks with his feet and hands, chest, then his head.

Shinsou suddenly finds himself unable to move within a few seconds after Izuku runs towards him. He is about to collapse when Izuku jumps back then jumps up into the air and round-house kicks Shinsou. Shinsou’s motionless body flies into the air and crashes straight out of bounds.

Izuku lands on his feet in a parkour landing crouch, then straightens up.

Absolute silence. Everybody watching sits in shocked silence. The dust settles revealing Shinsou out of bounds and unable to move. Midnight snaps out of her silence first, cracks her whip, and declares Midoriya Izuku the winner of the first round.

The moment she declares that, Izuku runs off of the platform and un-chi blocks Shinsou, helping him to stand up as he groans in pain and disappointment. Class 1-A and all of his teachers, the people who have witnessed him fight Quirkless with nothing but his chi blocks and martial arts, snap out of their shock soon after and begin cheering immediately. Ojiro cheers the loudest, happy that someone other than him was utilizing martial arts outside of class training, in front of all of Japan too.

“Damn you and your chi blocks, Midoriya,” he mutters as he’s lead towards the entrance, where he is quickly taken away by Recovery Girl. Izuku smiles sheepishly and quietly apologizes. The audience soon start to cheer as well.

Izuku waves to his class then walks out of the arena, towards the benches where the rest of his class is.

“Nice use of martial arts,” Ojiro compliments him as he grabs his pick of drinks and snacks, “But I did notice that you were slightly off balance when you were hitting Shinsou’s chi points in his legs. Not really something a non-combatant Quirk user can use to their advantage after having their chi blocked but still something to fix in case someone does take advantage of that off balance.”

Izuku thinks over the fight as he takes his seat, trying to figure out which move off balanced him, then nods. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Ojiro.” He smiles brightly at him, causing Ojiro to blink rapidly and look away with a nervous laugh after acknowledging his thanks.

Everybody else just basks in the warm feeling Izuku’s smile gives them, not realizing that Izuku’s Sky Flames are actually curling and dancing happily around them via Sky Attraction and that’s what’s giving them the warm feeling. Though Izuku’s smile is sunshine incarnate.

They turn to focus on the next match which is Seto vs. Sato.

Seto wins.

Uzumaki vs. Shiozaki.

Uzumaki wins.

Tokoyami vs. Shouji.

Shouji wins.

Hagakure vs. Mina.

Mina wins.

Momo vs. Ojiro.

Ojiro wins.

Jirou vs. Hatsume.

Jirou wins by opponent’s forfeit.

Todoroki vs. Iida.

Todoroki wins.

Bakugou vs. Ochako.

Bakugou wins by a landslide.

Next round: Seto vs. Todoroki; Bakugou vs. Ojiro; Jirou vs. Uzumaki; Mina vs. Midoriya; Shouji vs. winner of first fight.

Seto vs. Todoroki.

Todoroki wins.

Bakugou vs. Ojiro.

Bakugou wins.

Jirou vs. Uzumaki.

Uzumaki wins.

Mina vs. Midoriya.

Midoriya wins.

Shouji vs. Todoroki.

Todoroki wins, though Shouji did his best.

Now, there’s a half hour break.

Todoroki asks Midoriya to come and talk with him.

They stand six feet apart near the entrance of the battle arena. Midoriya sits down and leans against the wall while Todoroki stays standing.

“What did you want to talk about?” Izuku asks, leaning his head back against the wall.

Todoroki looks at him, stone-faced then he asks in a serious tone of voice, “Midoriya. Are you All Might and Endeavor’s secret love child or something?”

A moment of silence as Izuku stares at him in total bafflement and disbelief, slumped. “Am I… What…?”

The silence stretches after that baffled stumble. Todoroki then feels compelled to explain himself. “Well, you have incredibly powerful fire, not seen since my dad, and another Quirk, like me, which seem to give you some kind of super strength like All Might’s –”

“Stockpiles power,” the words leave his mouth without warning. Izuku internally sighs at his idiocy and apparent inability to not correct someone’s assumptions.

“W – what?”

Now he externally sighs in defeat. “I don’t know why everybody’s super strength… my second Quirk, like my first Quirk, stockpiles power or energy. Except unlike my first Quirk, which stockpiles the energy from inside of me,” he taps his chest, “the second Quirk stockpiles the energy from my surroundings. I can manipulate this energy however I want, due to my father’s influence from his own Quirk which is the ability to breathe fire, this energy from within usually translates into the Flames that you see. I’m used to stockpiling and taking energy from within, not from my surroundings. Because of that, when I activate the second Quirk, I instinctively work at it like how I would with the fire. Technically speaking, it’s the same Quirk – so theoretically it should work the same. But it doesn’t. Not only is the energy completely different, but the translation of that energy is different: the internal energy translates into fire,” he makes a fire appear in his right hand, “and the external energy translates into super strength and green lighting,” he activates OFA and focuses a ball of the green lighting into his left hand and the rest to his entire left side, “It’s incredibly strange that it does this.” He cancels both. “But that’s what it does. It’s the same Quirk, but the second aspect – the external energy – I’ve only recently discovered I can do, a mere two months ago. All Might took me in because the external energy is like his own Quirk in the super strength department.”

Todoroki raises an eyebrow, “If it’s the same Quirk, just working differently compared to how you’re used to, then how come you called it two separate Quirks?”

Izuku smiles sheepishly, “That’s what everybody else assumed. It was always just easier to let people think that then have to constantly explain that, no, it’s the same Quirk, it just evolved a new form of energy stockpiling that I wasn’t used to working with.” He rubs the back of his neck, “I… probably should have just straight up said so, instead of letting everybody, including the Quirk Registry Center, assume I have two Quirks… I’m sorry.”

Shouto blinks and shakes his head, “It’s not your fault people have the bad habit of assuming things instead of asking.”

Izuku stares at Todoroki and tilts his head.

“You called me here for something other than this. What is it? What’d you want to tell me?”

Todoroki shucffs his shoes against the concrete. Silence stretches between them. He takes in a breath.

“I… wanted to explain why exactly I made the declaration in the locker room.”

Izuku blinks, shakes his head, “You don’t have to explain shit, Todoroki-kun,” and stands up from his sitting position.

“Well – I want to.”

Izuku looks at this broken teenager and says, “I’m going to take a spin and guess it has something to do with your past – specifically your father.” Todoroki flinches back, surprised.

“How did you –?”

Izuku turns to look out of the entrance into the arena. He quietly informs Todoroki, “During the year that I was on the run, I met this girl. Her parents were rich whores who didn’t give a damn about their daughter. They neglected her and tried to get her to be a perfect daughter – which in their definition was a literal doll they could play with however they liked then toss aside for later. One day, she got into a car accident. Destroyed her internal organs. Her parents had the resources and the money to get her fixed up, to replace her organs. They refused to do so. She would have died, but then her Quirk acted up. It created illusionary organs to replace her destroyed organs, 25% of her power is spent on keeping those organs functional and there. The moment she got her strength back, she ran away. She’s actually the one who taught me how to hide in plain sight, how to act in the way people expect, how to disappear without notice…” He turns to face Todoroki. “In return, I taught myself how to spot abusers and neglecters, whether that’s with pets or their own kids. I couldn’t give her back her internal organs, I didn’t have the money or resources, but at least I could help her out by making sure what happened to her didn’t happen to anybody else in the same situation – spotting them and helping them get out of their situation to the best of my ability. Even if the best of my ability was simply to offer them a safe harbor to rest in for a few hours or days.”

Todoroki, for a moment, isn’t able to say anything, mouth opening and closing.

A beat later, Shouto steels himself, nods his head after Izuku’s words had confirmed something for him, then he begins to talk.

Izuku sits in silence and growing horror as Todoroki spills his life story to him.

It’s another moment of stilled silence, both of them barely acknowledging Present Mic’s distant statement of there being 10 minutes left of the break. Izuku struggles to speak or say anything as Shouto finishes,

“That’s why I made the declaration that I had. I had to know, to fight you seriously outside of the training sessions.”

Izuku presses his lips together, hair covering his expression.

“Then fight seriously. Use your fire.”

Todoroki looks disgusted, “Did you not hear me? –”

“How dare you.”

“What?”

Izuku looks up at him, a cold face yet determined light echoing in his eyes.

“Were you not paying attention, Todoroki-kun? Everybody’s fighting 100% and you’re barely even half-assing it. You fight as if your father could at any point in time take control of your fire and use it against you.” Izuku stands up and brushes off, then as he turns to leave,

“Your past does not define you. You shouldn’t let it control you either. A Hero who can’t put aside their past to help protect the people and to bring safety to our world, I think, is a Hero who should step aside from the scene and not return until they can. Eventually, someone is going to die under your watch because you purposely crippled yourself for all these years. There are people here who life crippled against their will and yet still got here despite that. Your decision to not use your fire, even though your father can’t use it, is like spiting in those people’s face, Todoroki.” He leaves Todoroki in that hallway to go back to the stands.

Todoroki leans back and slumps to the floor, hands moving to grip his hair.

First match of the third round was Bakugou vs. Uzumaki.

Midnight calls for the fight to start.

Bakugou starts explosively. _Impatient, thirsty for a fight._ Izuku sees sparks of red in his explosions not normal for them. _Baby Storm, not active but traumatized by something enough to get the Flames burning – using determination as fuel to fight. Not used to Flames._

Izuku knows who will win the moment Uzumaki shows using his illusions to widen the distance between them, a great chasm expanding in the middle of the arena. Illusions changing the playing field.

1-A cheers for both their classmate and for the Gen Ed student to knock Bakugou’s ego down a bit.

Izuku mutters up a storm about illusions fighting explosions. _Chrome – or Uzumaki – is used to fighting explosions thanks to Gokudera-kun. But she’s used to fighting Gokudera’s style of explosions in which there’s micros seconds of time to snuff out the wicks and stop the explosions or distract Gokudera enough to where she can ensnare him into an illusion before he can light any explosive. Bakugou doesn’t fight like that; though the weapon is the same, Bakugou has complete control over the explosion and there’s no way for Chrome to snuff out his nitroglycerin sweat. But she doesn’t need a distraction to get him ensnared into illusions, all she needs is a big bang with enough smoke…_

An explosion big enough to shake the stadium knocks him out of his muttering Analysis Mode.

He looks up to see smoke covering the entire arena. Present Mic shouting about how he can’t see and Aizawa making a comment about what advantages can be done with smoke as your cover when you have an illusion Quirk.

1-A is muttering and shifting to try and see – actually, everybody in the audience stands is doing that. Except Izuku. His eyes narrow, catching movement near the edge closest to their stands.

Uzumaki turns and winks at him. A rippling starts up from his feet to the rest of his body then he vanishes. Izuku blinks then looks up immediately.

His eyes widen and his gasp must have been pretty loud because his friends look up as well and point into the air.

Uzumaki is standing in the air, twirling his trident. He stabs it downwards and twists it. A blast of air comes out, pushing the smoke out and up then away. The crowd coughs and covers their mouths but the smoke goes right over them and vanishes. Everybody turns to the stadium and sees.

Bakugou buried into the concrete right where the chasm had been previously and Uzumaki exactly where he had been at the start of the fight. The figure that had been in the air vanishes.

He coughs and leans against the trident which had once again appeared before him, signaling to everybody in the stands that he was either at or near his limit. Izuku was the only one watching who knew it was only for show and that Chrome-Uzumaki had more than enough willpower to keep going. It has after all only been 2 hours since they started and Chrome (and Izuku) was used to fighting long battles that lasted for hours, as well as fighting obstacle courses for hours all while dodging bullets. The Sports Festival was a vacation for both of them compared to that.

But Chrome-Uzumaki had to pretend he had a drawback and the drawback Uzumaki chose was respiratory problems triggered by any illusions relying on air usage, and energy sapping triggered by using too many powerful illusions for long periods of time.

Bakugou explodes, destroying the illusion and getting himself out of the hole. Uzumaki flinches back in surprise – pretending, Izuku knows, Reborn long trained Tsuna’s Mist Guardian(s, if Mukuro ever gets his head out of his butt) out of believing everybody will fall for their illusions and not be able to get out of it. Illusions, even powerful Mist Illusions, are hard to make real first and for most, but it is especially hard to keep them up if the person knows they’re dealing with an illusionist and how to break out. Bakugou’s method… not really the safe, ideal, or even correct way to get out of an illusion’s hold, but it can certainly surprise an illusionist, especially one who believes their illusions are strong enough to trick anybody, enough to get rid of the illusion.

Bakugou, now more pissed, pushes forward and sends an explosion at Uzumaki. Uzumaki reappears on the other side of the playing field and slammed his foot down.

A wall of cement and stone slams up, tall enough to reach the stadium roof. He sets his staff aside, it floats next to him. Uzumaki waves his hands in an intricate pattern – a show really, not necessary for Chrome to make her illusions – and mist and fog covers the floor of the arena.

Explosions sound once more from Bakugou’s side, but the fog and mist is so thick that only flashes of light is seen from his end.

Izuku flinches back suddenly and grips his chest. His head snaps in Bakugou’s direction.

Red.

Uzumaki flinches back as well and grips his head, shaking it. For a moment, his form flickers between Chrome and Uzumaki then steadies back to Uzumaki. Luckily, even though the illusions wavered in formation for a moment, it wasn’t enough to destroy the fog so nobody caught the flickering forms. He raises his head and looks in Izuku’s direction. Izuku shakes his head slowly and, having already been leaning over the railing, risks making a small cutting motion with his right hand.

Uzumaki pouts but reluctantly grabs his trident. He straightens up, raises his weapon, and taps it down. All of the illusions vanish immediately, revealing Bakugou hunched over and breathing heavily. An almost-unnoticeable shaking surrounds his arms and shoulders. He looks up, an enraged face showing, but fear and regret clash in his eyes.

“You… bastard,” he clenches his teeth. Uzumaki allows his staff to vanish in the same way as the illusions, making it appear as if it had been an illusion as well. Uzumaki, having picked up on the signs of a panic attack in the making, frowns, regret and sorrow playing on his face.

“He doesn’t blame you,” he softly says to Bakugou. Bakugou flinches, “You – you have no right. You f***** a**h***!” He runs at Uzumaki, and throws an explosive punch at him. Uzumaki does nothing to fight it and gets blown up and over, straight into the border wall. Bakugou breathes in and out, straightening from his punching position. Hair covers his face as Uzumaki slumps to the ground, out of bounds.

Midnight declares him the winner and the crowd cheers. Izuku leaves the stands to get ready for his own fight. The class talk excitedly about the fight, Recovery Girl and his assistants take Uzumaki away, Bakugou leaves the arena, Cementoss gets to work fixing the arena. Tokoyami watches Izuku leave, eyes narrow.

Then a smirk covers his face, “Revelry in the dark, Midoriya. Your darkness is not as hidden as you think.” Jirou turns to him, “You thinking the cinnamon roll is one of us? Really?” Shouji leans over, “I mean, he did rant at a serial killer about the proper ways of challenging and shaking up the system. And he is the kid who went missing 6 years ago, apparently on the run for one year and stuck with Villains for 5 of those years. So, it makes sense for him to have some darkness in him.” Shinsou slurps his drink, “Not only that, but have you seen his notebook? The things he writes in that thing is morally dark grey at worst and important-information-that-could-save-our-lives-if-we-listen-to-him at best.” Jirou considers this then shrugs, making a face.

“Yeah, okay. He’s still a cinnamon roll though. Wouldn’t hurt a fly as long as that fly doesn’t hurt his friends and family.”

Izuku was on his way to the entrance hall when he found Bakugou leaning against the wall, knees up, head back, breathing shaky and rough.

“Bakugou?” He approaches and squats in front of him, keeping a distance to keep him comfortable. “Did the illusions hurt you more than initially thought?”

“No. Go away, Deku. Don’t you have a fight to get to?”

Izuku tilts his head, “Well, if a classmate needed my help, I’m sure everybody would understand if I’m just a bit late.” He sighs roughly in response and shakes his head. “No, I don’t need your help, go.”

“… Would you prefer Recovery Girl? I can call her over.”

“No, I’m not hurt! I don’t need her. Get to your damn fight already!”

Izuku stays, frowning. Then he says quietly, “I know you feel weak asking for help, whether it’s a physical injury or a mental one. But – asking for help doesn’t make you weak, Bakugou. It only means you’ve been strong for too long. The battle is over now, you can rest, you can let the people who can help you help you.”

Bakugou doesn’t say anything, just lets his head fall to his chest and breathes. His grasp on his knees tightens. “… I don’t need help. Go to your fight. I’m fine.”

“You’re having a panic attack,” Izuku bluntly tells him, Bakugou is about to protest but Izuku interrupts, “Don’t try and deny it to me. I’ve had enough in the past, probably will have some more in the future, to recognize the signs and the suppression.”

The smell of caramel and smoke fills the air as Bakugou only clenches his pants tighter.

“If you don’t want me here, that’s fine. I’ve found that company can be incredibly helpful in handling panic attacks, specifically the aftermath. So, I’m going to get Recovery Girl. While I do this, if your version of a panic attack requires that you’re alone for you to begin, let it happen. If not, let it happen anyways. Because suppressing it isn’t going to make it go away or make it easier to manage.”

Izuku stands up and goes and gets Recovery Girl. As she goes and helps Bakugou get to the infirmary room to get through his panic attack away from sight, he turns around.

And almost runs right into Chrome, who’s not disguised as Uzumaki.

“Chrome?!” He hisses, “What are you doing?” Chrome smiles calmly. “It’s okay, Bossu’s Lover.” Izuku blushes at the title, embarrassed at being called that lovingly-and-jokingly-given title in his world.

She waves around and between them, explaining, “I’ve weaved an illusion. Nobody can hear our conversation; they’ll hear a conversation but it will never actually reach their ears. To them, I still look like Uzumaki. A brief glance of our conversation and it will only look like you’re asking me about my Quirk, taking notes, and I’m indulging you with amusement in answering your questions.” Izuku relaxes, breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Nice. Oh, good job on your fights, by the way.” Chrome smiles, small but bright.

“Thanks, I quite enjoyed it myself. I can see why you were always so excited whenever you got the chance to talk about UA’s Sports Festival. It is pretty fun and entertaining even with the explosions and obstacle courses reminding me rather abruptly about Reborn and his training, shooting fear and adrenaline straight into my heart.”

Izuku laughs nervously. “Yeah. It isn’t so much fun when it reminds you of Reborn’s Hell Training.”

Chrome giggles then hugs Izuku, he hugs back. It had been trial and error for both of them in getting comfortable getting hugs and initiating hugs – even then they only did it with their closest friends.

They soon separated and waved goodbye to each other, heading in opposite directions. Chrome’s illusion of Uzumaki rippling and solidifying onto her as an actual person soon enough.

(It’s a good thing Dying Will Flames isn’t an actual Quirk, otherwise on single usage of Aizawa’s Quirk and Chrome gets exposed.)

Present Mic calls for the next match, the second to last match of the First Year Sports Festival.

“Half-Cold, Half-Hot, and ruthless in his execution, Todoroki Shouto of the Hero Course Class 1-A!” Todoroki walks onto the field, a cold look on his face. A cheer echoes from the crowd.

“Analytic and a true cinnamon roll, with an energetic fire and epic strength, Midoriya Izuku of the Hero Course Class 1-A!” Izuku walks onto the field, face bashful and embarrassed at Present Mic’s introduction. The crowd starts roaring in encouragement and cheer. Causing Izuku to burn red in the face and sway on his feet for a moment halfway on the walk to the arena.

He shakes his head and quickly walks the rest of the way, pulling out his pill case and taking a pill out. He puts the case into his inside jacket packet, taking off his jacket and putting it on the steps. It cost too much to allow damage.

He walks up the last steps and enters the arena. Izuku pops the pill into his mouth and waits for Midnight’s signal.

They bow to each other in standard respect and recognition.

Midnight snaps the whip and calls, “FIGHT START!” Izuku dry swallows the pill and jumps to the left away from the shot of ice. Immediately, his Crown of Flames appear on his head and he runs. Dodging ice left and right.

With a burst of Flames, he shoots into the air, and front-flips a shot of Flame from his foot straight at Todoroki who creates an ice shield and leaps forward. The Flames break the ice, Izuku lands, turns, breaks the ice shot his way while Todoroki had been turning.

Shoots forward and punch-stabs Todoroki’s right hand, then his shoulder, elbow, leg. Flips over him and shoots him out with a blast of Flame that would have put him out of bounds if he hadn’t been able to shoot out a wall of ice with his foot – the wall was small and barely caught him, his chest had gone over the wall. Izuku did those actions as one fluid motion.

Todoroki moved himself off but collapsed to the floor on one knee, not able to use his right side.   
“W – what?! - Is th - your chi blocking. Damn it!” He tries to get his right side to move, to create ice other than the weak wall that’s already melting. A panicked expression flashes through his face. Oh, how he despises Izuku’s chi blocking. Useful against a Villain, damn annoying and dreadfully painful when you’re the one dealing with it.

Izuku stares at him, the calm of Dying Will piercing right at him. Izuku moves, Flame swirling like air around him in a buildup of power. “You cripple yourself, so I gave you a physical representation on your right side of what you’re doing to your left.” Todoroki’s head snaps to him, eyes widening.

“I will show you what fire can be like, if you let it live.” And he sends the Flames roaring at Shouto. Shouto closes his eyes, bracing for pain. He feels the heat but no pain.

It’s warm.

He opens his eyes and they quickly widen as he looks around him.

The audience watching too, those in the stands and those from home, stand up and watch in awe the view.

A massive tornado of fire, colored orange, green, yellow, blue, red, gold, white, indigo, purple, and a multitude of other colors, surrounds Todoroki, reaching for the Sky. Shining so beautifully, warm and welcoming.

“Incredible,” a news reporter breathes.

“How the hell do you mistake something like this kid to be Quirkless?” a doctor, watching in the hospital break room, questions.

“Pretty…” a toddler stares in awe, eyes sparkling in delight, reaching for the pretty fire on the screen.

“What the hell…?” a burn-scarred young adult in dark clothes stares at the tv screen on the display window, disbelieving that fire could create something like that. “Oi, kid, we’re going,” an older man gruffs to him. The young adult moves on, shaking his head.

“To those of you watching from home, who have no idea of what this fire is doing beyond being such a powerful and beautiful display,” Present Mic shakily says from his post, “It feels warm. Kind. I feel hopeful looking at this fire tornado, not awed. But like the future will be better and everything will be alright in the end. My partner next to me, Aizawa, is grinning wildly so I can only assume we’re seeing this because of him.”

“Oh, no. This isn’t because of me or the lessons my class is learning. No, this is all Midoriya. I can only assume that he put in a ton of practice to get this right.” Aizawa keeps grinning.   
“Wait, seriously?!” Mic shouts at him in surprise. Aizawa nods.   
“I told you the kid’s a Problem Child, didn’t I?”   
“I didn’t think you meant something like this!”

Aizawa’s grin softens, still a smirk but there is a hopeful fire burning in his eyes now. “But you are right, Present Mic. These fire Midoriya is displaying feels like coming home after years of fighting in a battle.”

“Oh?” An unseen figure sits up, while watching the Sports Festival with his subordinates. He grins widely. “Now, isn’t this interesting?”

Shigaraki, the Villain leader from the USJ, scratches vigorously at his neck, “It’s not fair. Who the hell does this kid think he is?” He hisses.

“You have to admit though,” Kurogiri observes, “It is incredible control this kid is displaying, especially with that piece of fire merrily burning on his forehead.” Shigaraki grunts, but turns to the screen not displaying the Sports Festival but only an Audio Only screen.

“What do you think, Sensei?” Shigaraki asks, almost eagerly like a puppy. Most likely asking for permission to kill the kid. There isn’t a response for a few moments.

Izuku extends the Flames to flow around the arena, encircling them. “Do you understand now?” Todoroki doesn’t respond for a moment. Then he raises his left hand and fire blooms from it, dancing happily and curling around him. It seems happy to be free and play. Todoroki allows it to grow into a burst of fire that burns through his clothes. Izuku grins widely and laughs freely even as he sends his circle of Flames to act as a shield against the fire.

Todoroki grins as well, feeling light on his head and free in the sky, as he uses his own fire to copy Izuku’s circle of fire. It was less as controlled due to Shouto’s years of not using his fire and also the chi blocking on his right side but it was still awesome to watch. He sends several blasts of fire to which Izuku responses with a wall of Flame 10 feet high and 6 feet wide, blocking the blast.

Then he sends the wall of energy fire Todoroki’s way, flicking a blast of OFA 5% behind it. Todoroki’s attempt of an ice shield melts and the blast plus the Flame wall blasts him straight out of the arena. Skidding right onto the walkway, bringing up concrete and dirt as he blasts through it and out into the entranceway. Rolling to a stop. Izuku releases his hands from their sending position and releases the Flame wall, causing it to disappear before it reaches the audience.

There’s silence as everybody processes what they had seen, then Midnight shouts, “Todoroki is out of bounds. Winner: Midoriya Izuku!” The crowd cheers as Midoriya stares sadly where Todoroki is being led off via stretcher. His Crown of Flames – lovingly coined by Tsuna, because why not? There’s no other word for it apparently – fizzes out. Izuku turns and walks off the stage, grabbing his jacket and putting it back on. Zipping it up as he leaves the arena, apologizing to Cementoss for the damages as he went.

“Kurogiri,” Sensei finally says, the bartender standing attention at being addressed, “What’s your assessment of this child?”

Kurogiri mulls the question over. “Like the announcer had said, he seems to be analytical,” he slowly answers, “One thing that I noticed, back at the USJ, is he seems to be prepared for almost everything. He didn’t seem shocked by our appearance; more dread and resignation had been on his face than anything else. He seems to hate fighting, even when he was up against Shigaraki and the Noumu you gave us, he talked more than he fought. As if he was trying to deescalate the situation and do anything except fight to stop us. Yet when we gave him no other choice, he still seemed reluctant even though it was obvious that was the only option if he wanted his classmates and himself to survive. He also seems to like Quirks too, analyzing them and asking questions and making several breakdowns on them. Several observations many people both in and outside of UA have made on him notes this tendency of analyzing. But Midoriya Izuku is also kind. He was willing to hear us out; from the video with Hero Killer Stain, you can easily glean the fact that he recognizes the broken Hero System and understand our need of change and why we’re Villains, but…”   
“But?”   
“However, he also seems to believe that everybody is going about it the wrong way. From the video, he attributes fixing the system with fixing a dying tree: everybody is going after the branches and leaves, encouraging the tree to keep growing when it should be doing the opposite, instead of the roots. He said that the problem isn’t in the branches and leaves, but in the roots. Kind of similar to what you believe, Master. However, it seems to me, that Midoriya believes the roots didn’t come from the system created in response to Quirks, but the system which came before it. He believes that the system today came from the racist system of old, not the Quirk system created during the First Quirks Era.”

Izuku pauses in the entrance hall, looking back at one of the cameras which for some reason is focused primly on him. He narrows his eyes.

“So, you do not believe Midoriya Izuku will listen to me.”   
“If you wish to try it, Master, I can do nothing to stop you. But I can say this: Midoriya Izuku will sooner die a bloody death than let someone hurt his comrades and family. Midoriya Izuku will destroy your very being if it means you never touch his nakama again. If the Pro Heroes had not shown up when they did, that is exactly what he would have done to Shigaraki during the USJ Raid.”

Izuku claws his chest and makes an outward motion with it. The camera glass cracks.

Several glasses within the bar break and or shatter with that outward motion, a flare of Flames briefly seen before snuffing out. Shigaraki and Kurogiri both flinches away. “WHAT THE HELL?! HOW?!”

In an unknown location, All For One grins widely and laughs, “How interesting.” The Doctor, recently escaped from jail, nervously steps away from AFO, questioning in a quiet voice, “How the hell did I miss that brat’s Quirk? He had the toe joint and everything else, a destroyed Plus Alpha on top of that!” All For One’s head tilts, “Good Doctor. You knew about this brat.” The Good Doctor stiffens.

“Sir, the brat came to my office with his mother when he was 4 years old. I didn’t tell you about him because I thought the Midoriya brat was Quirkless. In fact, he should have been. He had the extra toe joint, the blood tests all came negative, he didn’t show anything or sign of either of his parent’s Quirks. And… his Plus Alpha gene was destroyed; I don’t know how. But there were pieces missing, cracks, and barely tethered together bits and ends. The kid’s Quirk just wasn’t there and wasn’t active. The – the next thing I know, the kid’s back with his Underground Hero dad, after being missing 6 years before hand, with a powerful Fire Quirk – one that I’ve never seen before, which shouldn’t have been possible. Then, suddenly I’m being arrested for malpractice with my medical license revoked, knocked unconscious so ‘I can’t escape from custody’. And I wake up in jail and learn that the brat and his father had set my clinic on fire as the officers were driving me to the station.” He takes another step back and hastily adds, “I swear to you, sir, if I had known of Midoriya’s Quirk back then, I’d have brought him before you and you would have it now.”

Sensei remains frowning then dismisses the doctor away.

Casually saying as the doctor bows and hastily walks out the door, “Have Shigaraki taste his Quirk on your latest when you get chance.” The doctor shutters as he leaves, acknowledging Sensei’s order as well.

All For One stares at the file on Midoriya Izuku, with another file open displaying the official report on his disappearance with Midoriya’s statement on it. He stares at the Quirk Registry on the file,

“‘Dying Will’, huh? ‘Stockpiles and releases energy from within and in the surroundings (note: recently discovered, user may face massive drawbacks due to this), often translating as fire and green lighting…’ Dying Will, what an interesting name. And a powerful Quirk too –” He notices the small note made in the drawbacks, “‘Able to give others energy drawn from surroundings and within but the energy will immediately return back to user after usage, potentially leading to massive explosive burst of power which can level an entire building if user is unexpectedly forced to release energy which had been added to by the returned energy. Note: user can willingly give the energy away but not by force, forcing user to give Dying Will Energy can, will, and has lead to the forcer’s body being destroyed by the energy or it rejects the forcer and goes right back to original user – Do not attempt, not even if you have a death wish.’ Wait… green lighting with strength rivalling that of All Might, inability to forcible take the energy… One For All! But, which part is One For All and which is Dying Will? Hm, guess I will find out when Shigaraki and Kurogiri bring him to me.” He leans back and smirks proudly, like the bastard he is, at finding the new One For All user.

Little did he know, that Dying Will cannot be stolen by someone who isn’t the Flame user or a Sky – the good ones always return the borrowed Flames after calling for their Guardians’ help – or a Guardian.

Also, I don’t understand how he came to the conclusion of One For All, Dying Will the Quirk is an energy stockpile Quirk, of course it has those drawbacks and abilities. Stockpile Quirks are unique and weird for a reason.

The Sports Festival had continued on while this was going on. All of Japan watches as a massive explosion of dust, caramel-smelling smoke, Flame, explosion, cement, and dirt implodes from the arena.

As the dust clears, revealing Bakugou knocked out and out of bounds, an imprinted mark against the wall.

As Midoriya Izuku, the kid who had shaken Japan for all these years since the first video of him being kidnapped was uploaded, stands victorious before them, a Crown of fire on his head, one fist raised to the sky in defiance, and screams. Tears streaming down his face and head lifted to the sky, even with Dying Will bringing a complete sense of calm and determination over him.

As Midnight snaps her whip and declares victory to Izuku with Present Mic screaming the victory out to the world happily, both of them amazed.

All of Japan watches as Todoroki gets his third place award, Bakugou – injured but stubbornly standing with Recovery Girl on standby to assist – gets his second place award (yes, he was pissed he lost but it was a fair fight), and Midoriya Izuku gets his first place award. He almost melts into the hug All Might gave him, exhaustion finally catching up and dragging him at his feet. All Might laughs it off and helps him to straighten up.

He almost makes it through the unfortunately mandatory winner speech. But no.

Izuku stands on the stage and says this, feeling the effects of adrenaline disappearing and the exhaustion drawback of using both OFA and his Flames at the same time so many times, “Okay, I’ll be honest with you. I’m feeling the drawbacks of my Quirk right about now, so mandatory speech is not going to be this amazing or even good one. Please don’t blame UA if I pass out on stage, this is just my own stupidity staring into my eyes. Everybody fought 100%, even if for some of us, it took a while to do so.” He grabs the mic stand to keep himself steady.

“Um… It was – it was honestly incredible, seeing everybody here, fighting so hard. To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to be the winner. I came in here, focused on just – having some fun and just, for a few minutes, not think about how horrible and cruel the world is and can be. There are… many problems being a participant in the Sports Festival has brought to my attention, but I’m not going… going to talk about those. In the end, no matter the drawbacks we may or may not have had while this went on, it was pretty fun. Wasn’t it, minna?” he smiles, laughing, as the students cheer, even those who didn’t make it past the first course cheer.

“Yeah, in the end… Fun doesn’t even halfway describe the experience of being out here, fighting and running and just having as much fun as you can in a festival like this. Um” His body suddenly hits him with a wave of bile and black stars in his sight. “Oohhkay. This is the part where I pass out now.” He lets go of the mic and passes out, dropping to the floor without ceremony. All Might, still in his Might form, catches him. 1-A rushes forward to follow as Recovery Girl and All Might take him away to the infirmary.

Awkward silence then Present Mic begins the process of officially ending the Sports Festival.


	12. Midterms and Shopping Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I lied. I've decided to move the Final exams to the end of second semester so after the Overhaul Arc and the internships.   
> This chapter is about Midterms and then the field trip. I didn't remember exactly what the shoppers needed to get or even who went to the trip so they are definitely different things. I'm also going to have the activities be a bit different for that time too.   
> This chapter is unfortunately long, because I had to make up my own Midterms Physical and describe a basic outline of what happened. On top of everything that took place during the shopping trip. I also changed Izuku's actions and lines during this, barely even let Shigaraki get a word in. This Izuku after all would not allow anybody to touch him like that, his training wouldn't permit them no matter how much stronger they are. This Izuku would do everything to make sure they can't get him. Yes, it is leftover trauma from the kidnapping on top of what Byakuran and Daemon had done to him, if you couldn't tell, Izuku certainly can't.

Aizawa sleeps in his sleeping bag while the students frantically but quietly write down answers on their midterm test.

It’s the second day of midterms, this day’s test being Heroic History with interspersed questions about possible situations that ask for theoretical solutions utilizing the stories and lessons the students have learned in Heroic History class.

In other words, every single Midterm Test is challenging and poking at the students to see if they can catalogue and remember their lessons in pressurized situations, applying the theoretical in real world situations via questions and written tests.

The Finals is about taking those theories applied here plus the extras lessons and theories taught to them later on and seeing if they can do those theories in real life, on top of testing and seeing where exactly in the real-life situation they can apply them practically.

Izuku, Bakugou, Jirou, Iida, and Momo are the first to finish the test. And yes, Izuku finished early not only because he studied but also because Reborn made these kinds of tests with those kinds of theoretical questions – though primarly focused on the Mafia – for Izuku when Tsuna and his Guardians are learning about Mafia and how it works, all the time.

The final day of testing is where the practical test will take place. In which they must survive a dangerous forest, answering the questions scattered through out the forest as they try to get out and survive for two days. It is the last test because of the preparation. As in, the teachers gather the supplies they want them to utilize and the students then have to prioritize which item will help them the most in their two-day survival within that forest. Which takes a while to set up for.

They all have just arrived at their designated spots for where they will enter the forest, with the mission of returning to ‘HQ’, 1-A’s homeroom class in the case of 1-A, by the time of 2 days. The primary idea is to get there by yourself, under the pretense of ‘the mission’ had been a solo mission, but Principal Nedzu had said only 2 points will be docked if you occasionally asked for assistance in say getting across a rapid river, 5 points docked if you team up near the end of the 2 days, and 10 points docked if you team up with someone immediately or in the middle of getting home. Principal Nedzu had also made it explicitly clear that attacking a fellow ‘Pro Hero’, for any reason except proven self-defense, will get you 90 points docked and several Sunday detentions

Izuku stands before the edge of the forest where he was dropped at, waiting for the okay signal from ‘HQ’ telling him if the coast is clear to go into the forest and get back to base.

The test’s simulated situation is that the students, having each been sent on their own solo mission near or in the forest, now have to get back to HQ through the forest due to suspicious increased attacks against Pro Heroes, HQ not wanting to lose any more Pro Heroes relying on the forest to get everybody back to the base for the forest was Hero territory. So far, no attacks have taken place within those areas, only within the cities and towns.

1-B is HQ’s security watchers and the Hero Defenders within the trees who handle intruders. Several members assigned job of being missing or getting hunted by the ‘Villains’.

1-A are the Pro Heroes trying to return to safety after solo missions, with several members assigned job of surviving while injured. Only those with “severe injuries” allowed help from 1-B Defenders or any uninjured 1-A members. One member has been assigned job of being missing.

First Year Support Course are Searchers for these missing members and Onlookers, the ones who create items to track and keep watch within ‘the city’ (UA campus) to try and catch the culprit(s). (Support needed to be tested on their skill to make support items designed for security and search and identification, etc. And Hero Course needed to be tested on the survival they’ve learned so far, outside of summer camp training which comes up after this.)

Business Course are either Press or Terrified Civilian or Intelligent Suspicious Person. Tested to see if they can act the part of the people they will be dealing with on the daily, so that they better understand and are better able to react in a good way. Some of the First Years are playing the part of the Business Handlers who deal with these kinds of people.

General Education are Handlers who take care of the Press, direct civilians to safety, and handle everything to do with day-to-day life while ‘the Heroes’ are away.

Medical Course is On Standby, the group that first sees ‘the Heroes’ and takes care of them. The first ‘City’ rest stop basically before they reach HQ. Set up near the forest entrance.

Law Course handles cases dealing with misconduct, disrespectful civilians, or any other problems that might come up on the legal side pertaining to the missions each 1-A student had complished. Each 1-A student has a file on hand with the details pertaining to the case, their ‘report’ basically, and until the Law students get their hands on those files which won’t happen until after those 2 days finished, they will be working with limited and scattered information, most of said information gathered by the ‘witnesses’ (actors and actresses hired to help make the simulation more impactful and keep the students’ head in the game. These actors and actresses vary from Theatre kids picked randomly from the Second- and Third-Year Courses across the board to actual actors and actresses picked who were willing to help with the Midterm Practical.)

Note: Second and Third Years across the board of UA, having to cover far more things than the First Years, won’t be having their exam until next week, aka the week the First Year Hero Course has to prepare for their Summer Training Camp.

Teachers is HQ, some specialized teachers stationed with their classes acting as supervisors/Head of the Department for those groups. Some teachers are pretending to be false intruders/Suspicious person to help the students assigned hunting intruders apply the knowledge they gained to differentiate between person who just has a defaulted bitch face/naturally suspicious behavior and person who actually is intruder. (Some people’s Quirks, after all, has a side effect that just partially forces suspicious or strange behavior to mentally handle their Quirk.)

His comm buzzes, “This is HQ Security to Pro Hero 72. All clear to enter the forest.” All of the students have been given their class profession name & a number to figure out who’s been spoken to, what with the Hero Course and Support Course First Years not having yet decided on a name.

Izuku sends back an acknowledgement, shifts his backpack up slightly higher up, takes in a breath. _Okay, relax, it’s like Namimori and Reborn’s crazy survival training. Just a test in those skills._ He enters the forest, steeling himself for two days of walking and surviving in the forest.

He pulls up the map they had all been provided. And carefully begins working to find a trail if there is one while heading in the general direction of where ‘the city’ is. He treks carefully through the forest, Hyper Intuition stretched from its usual position below his skin to about 10 meters in a general radius around him. Usually it can pick up stuff fairly easily without having to be stretched outside of his body, but that’s only in areas he’s already familiar or semi-familiar with. If there’s danger in the unknown area, then he doesn’t need to stretch it out before hand, but if he doesn’t know or there isn’t any evidence, then he has to stretch it out. Tsuna doesn’t have to do this, he actually has to work on bringing his HI below his skin instead of in the surroundings. One For All has applified his Intuition further than its usual range, from danger to himself and close friends, to danger to everybody including himself. He’s managed to get it calm by keeping it under his skin so he doesn’t get overwhelmed, but in this forest, with only himself and forest inhabitants, he felt it safe enough for his mind to stretch it out.

One For All hums underneath his skin, ready to defend, with only a slight touch from him. Izuku decides against wasting pills in this test, deciding to use the short bursts of Flames to assist in heating things up and making a camp fire but nothing else.

He weaves through trees and bushes and uneven areas. But also observes the area around him, interested in observing a forest that, for the most part, hasn’t been touched by human hands outside of adjustments for the Midterm Test.

He checks the map, stopping for a moment, then looks around him. “Okay, I started at the… it looks like the eastern point. UA is at the top hill, but the bus ride was an hour long…” he mutters, “If I’m at the eastern point and UA is the hill, then I need to go… northwest?” He glances at the compass on the map, moves to the map. Taps where he is, then UA’s designation. He looks up. “So then, that direction?” He points diagonally from himself, on his left side. “Or is it forward then west?” He puts down his arm and frowns at the map. He touches his comm as he moves forward.

“HQ, then is Pro Hero 72.”

“This is HQ, what’s the problem, 72?” Present Mic’s voice cheerfully answers.

“HQ’s general direction is northwest, right?”

“From… your position?”

“No, from the map’s compass. It looks like it’s northwest, but I wanted to confirm that with you just in case my directional sense is incorrect.”

“What does your Intuition tell you, 72?” Aizawa’s voice speaks up, tiredness and just his usual done-with-everything attitude evident in his voice.

Izuku frowns and shakes his head, “Negative, HQ. If there is no danger, Intuition doesn’t bring in any directional information, just a general sense of everything around my area so I don’t slip into something like a landslide.”

A sigh of defeat. A laugh from probably Present Mic or Midnight-sensei.

“Okay, Pro Hero 72. Let me check… And you are… correct! UA’s general direction according to the given map’s compass is indeed northwest.”

Izuku nods, “Okay. Thanks, HQ.”

“No problem.” He takes his hand off of his comm.

“Hm. Northwest means… My position is east. Then, I should go forward – meaning head west first, then… gradually start heading more north than just west.” He checks the map again, then starts marching forward. _Once I hit a hill that isn’t just a natural, temporary ramp, like an area with a river, but an actual hill in that area, then I should see UA – ah, ‘the City’ border._

He listens to the wind rustling the trees, flinching at every ping from his Intuition makes each time he passes one of the 1-B members hunting up in the trees. He fake laugh, tears on the edges of his eyes at a particular loud _PING!_

_Haha ha… I hate stretching my HI beyond my skin._

_Ping!_

_Ow! I get it, there’s people nearby! It’s 1-B for the last time! We checked the trees!_

Mina jumps through the trees, having decided that going by tree would be faster. She just barely catches herself from falling over, having overcalculated her trajectory and built up too much speed to be stopping so fast. She adjusts her position, breathing heavily, and takes a sip from the water pouch she had snatched up. She crouches down and observes the ground floor, then straightens, eyes narrow. She looks up towards the sky, checking the time, sucks in a breath, then jumps to the next branch over, quickly getting back into the rhythm. She mentally calculates how long it will take her to lose the shadowy man and what direction she’ll have to turn to throw him off, then how long it will take her to roundabout back to ‘the city’ before time runs out after sundown of the second day. She smirks, _So, one of the ‘intruders’ has decided to use me as a way to get into the ‘city’, huh. Well, try and keep up, after all, the floor is full of traps!_ An explosion of pink smoke sounds off just left and behind her position, followed by muffled curses. She snickers as she parkour-swings to the branch just below the one she had jumped from.

Bakugou curses as he parkours, skips, and jumps his way through the unstable and frankly insane mountainous, rocky area he’d been assigned to get back to HQ from. Apparently, his mission had taken place near or on some kind of canyon mountain area. “Shit!” he yells as the rock he had just landed on breaks off and tumbles to the many, many feet below river. He jumps and scrambles across other rocks to relatively safer and closer together rocks. Bakugou huffs a sigh of relief, then he looks back, noticing the rest of the distance he has before he’ll reach the safe grounds of forest floor instead of mountain/ rocky desert floor and gives another sigh of annoyance. He looks up at the sky and notes with an unreadable expression that it’s already the afternoon. He sighs in frustration as he hikes up his backpack and goes off again, “Ugh, maji ka yo... UA’s just as insane as those useless adults.” (English translation: seriously…? Or you’ve got to be kidding me…)

Shinsou huffs as he (fake) limps to the Medical Tent. He had been placed closer to UA Campus than the others, under the pretense of his teammates, who had been on the same mission but doing separate jobs without communication, having dropped him off as close to the City as they could before they all had to go separate ways in order to better throw off any pursuers. He thinks to himself, _if it wasn’t for what Aizawa-sensei had said, I’d been thinking UA was biased even in its Midterms, making the Mental Quirk Hero Student the injured one out of the bunch._

 _“Remember, no matter the mission, no matter the Quirk, there’s always a possibility of injury. Incorrect Intel only increases your chances of getting injured.”_ Shinsou had ended up being the one with incorrect Intel. _At least I, alongside the other injured 1-B student whose reason for injury is because of incorrect information, get to yell at the person who has the misfortune of being the assigned Misinformed Intel-gatherer._ He thinks humoruously to cheer himself up about not being able to get to HQ at 100%.

He finally reaches the tent entrance and stumbles through, just barely remembering that his ankle is supposed to be twisted on time. His assigned Medical examiner hurries over and helps him wobble his way to a cot where he’s carefully laid out. The Medical Student gets to work examining him, doing the standard check up tests then checking at his ‘twisted ankle’, ‘bruises’, ‘bleeding head’, and ‘bruised, possibly cracked ribs’. He wheezes, staring down the ‘Lawyer’ at the end of his cot who’s impatiently waiting for his report. The Medical Examiner yells at the Law student to ‘get the fuck out if he can’t be patient’, then mutters in perfect hearing range of the Lawyer, “And he calls himself a Lawyer, ha! Can’t even wait patiently for the patient to be healed before demanding answers. Just like one of those arrogant pigs who think themselves above the Law.” The Lawyer gains a pissed off look but grudgingly backs off to let the healer do his job. Shinsou was impressed, then he snickers when he remembers that the Law and Medical Student were actually siblings. He coughs and winces, acting as if the snicker had jostled his ribs and irritated his head.

“Do you have the file?” the Law Student demands the moment the Medical Student backs off and returns to his waiting station. Shinsou deadpans at the high schooler.

“Omae wa hontou ni taido ga warui na,” he states, (English translation: You got a real attitude problem.) The lawyer presses their lips together and simply raises a hand to Shinsou, waiting. “Given that one of the witnesses has claimed to be a relative of one of the Villains and saying how he did nothing wrong and demanding justice for ‘what you’d done’ and compensation, I kinda need your report, now. Unless you want to deal with those kinds of accusations again, Pro Hero 14?” Shinsou blinks, momentarily off guard, having not been told what kind of case his assigned District Attorney would be dealing with after the mission success. Then he silently hands over his report, pulling it out of his backpack and giving it to them. Then he leans back and waits for the ‘all clear’ signal, meaning he can continue his journey to HQ.

Tsuyu climbs out of the river, hopping through the foliage. She lands on the Eastern Gate’s post. There is only a thin light in the horizon as she jumps over it and lands on her feet. Her assigned Medical Examiner hurries over to her, she signs in, goes through the checkup, then sprints to the 1-A homeroom. Stopping only once to give her report to her assigned District Attorney. Signing into HQ with a swipe of her (fake) license card in the (fake) scanner. (Teacher hidden within the box holding the scanner, signs her in via tablet, using the scanner to see who fake-signed in. The license is actually the student’s UA cards.) She learns that Kouda had been one of the first people to arrive. “Makes sense, kero,” She comments, “the forest would be your territory, wouldn’t it, Kouda-chan? Given that the forest is filled to the brim with animals who could help you get here quickly, kero.” Kouda nods, a light blush dusting his cheeks given he hadn’t even realized how quickly he had prowled through the test until he had gotten there, but he was also beaming with pride over finally not being in the middle ranks. Izuku waves to her, greeting her, already back in his school uniform. She waves back then goes off to the locker rooms to change, after completely the last of the check-ins to confirm to HQ that she was safely back. Izuku goes back to reading.

Shinsou enters only 10 minutes after her. Shouji arrives 30 minutes after him. Kirishima arrives two hours after Shouji. Jirou arrives at midnight. Iida arrives an hour after her (he had been purposely placed in an area of the forest where using his Quirk could have caused an landslide and informed that several other students, 1-B mostly, were positioned only a few miles from his position where they would mostly definitely be affected if a landslide happened; a test within a test to see how far he’d go for a mission and if he’d realize a sacrificed life wasn’t worth the mission in this case scenario). Nobody else arrives for several hours after Iida, in which time all the students in 1-A’s designated HQ have an impromptu sleepover so they’d at least get the experience of sleeping in a place not usually used for sleeping. Ojiro arrives just a few minutes before dusk and joins the sleepover after he changed and signed in with HQ. Tokoyami arrives 30 minutes after Ojiro, glad that everybody had allowed him to whisk the high-powered flashlight. Momo arrives at around 7:30, covered in dirt and mud and looking slightly unhinged. Everybody decides against asking, letting her have an hour-long shower in the locker rooms without a word. Ochako arrives 10 minutes after her, as cheerful and pumped as ever but also looking like she was questioning everything. Everybody decides they don’t want to know, beyond just making sure she’s okay. Todoroki arrives an hour after Ochako, having been placed 5 hours away from UA campus in the woods, looking unhinged and done with everything (he had been forbidden from just using an ice ramp to get to the City as that would have overworked his Quirk and also exposed to the intruders/Villains where HQ was). Hagakure arrives 20 minutes after him, wearing her new Hero Costume that was built from taking the hair she had gotten cut beforehand (it has the ability to de-camouflage whenever she wants – gloves and boots included in that design). Yes, she changed into her school uniform once she finished signing in.

The class couldn’t leave until everybody arrives, so Aizawa decides to have the class give a report on their faked mission, whether it was a success or failure, and then he had them drop the pretense of the simulation after they gave the report. He then explains to the class how an actual Pro Hero would have done their mission, and the difference between the choices of an Underground Hero, a Rescue Hero, Spotlight Hero, and an Investigative Hero and how the mission would have been affected by those choices. He encourages any questions they may have, pushes their debates, and lets them make their own critiques and conclusions. Then he takes those conclusions and tells them whether or not their conclusion would hold in an actual prosecution case, then the why.

He reminds everybody over and over again that the choices of each Pro Hero are just as valued as the choice of the bystander or witness or victim, even the choice of the Villain or criminal is taken into account. He reminds them that where their profession leads them will greatly affect the choices you make down the line.

“You aren’t always going to have a choice as to where you end up,” Aizawa-sensei says, after everybody in 1-A has changed and gathered into 1-A classroom. “Sometimes circumstances put you in a place where you’ll end up as an Underground when you had planned for and trained for Spotlight, or sometimes you’ll find yourself becoming primarily a Rescue Hero when you had planned for and trained for Underground. It doesn’t always happen, but it’s common enough to where you need to be prepared to make a choice that goes against the area of profession you’ve chosen. There will be times where you will find yourself having to ignore a request for rescue, let a criminal get away, sacrifice your reputation, or even let a civilian die to save the thousands. There will be times where you will have to make the choice to purposely cause an avalanche, let a bomb go off when not all the civilians have been evacuated, purposely trigger a Villain to get them to attack, pretend to be the Villain to get the actual Villain to come out, or maybe even kill someone.” He stares them all down, dead serious. They all suck in a breath and shake at the thought of having to do any of those things.

“But,” 1-A all looks up at their sensei at the word, “there will also be times where you made a choice you didn’t have to make, where it was not necessary to make that choice. Sometimes though, the Hero Commission or your agency or even ordinary civilians will be dragging you into situations, forcing you to stay up, making a situation seem as if you’re in a rock and a hard place, or… tire you out enough to where you make a fatal mistake that cost somebody their life, a fatal mistake you would not have made if you had not been so tired. So, remember this,” he leans closer to them, face overshadowed with old, old grief and a darkness they’d never seen in their teacher’s eyes before. “Always, _always_ , know your limits. _Always_ know when it’s time to take a break, to step away from your work. Even a Hero like me, who gets paid by the Villain rather than by the hour, can recognize when it’s time for me to leave the scene for a few days. You will be useless to everybody but especially the innocents, if you’re dead on your feet. Passing out or falling asleep on the job, especially in the middle of patrol, can, has, and will get people badly injured and killed. And it won’t just ruin your career, it could lead to you losing your own life. And the Death of a Pro Hero, especially an adorned one, is not something the people want to witness. Burn this unprompted lesson into your brain, it couldn’t very well save someone’s life.”

He finishes with a final warning, “If you’re past your limit, if you’re dead on your feet, I don’t care what the HC, or the media, or anybody else says, You. For the love of the stars. Take. A. _Break._ And if your agency tries to stop you, tries to get you to work when you’ve explicitly said you can’t anymore and need a few days off, You. Better. Fucking. Leave. Their. Asses. Find a better agency. I’m not kidding. Capiche?”

“Hai, sensei!” Everybody answers, burning the lesson into their brain, knowing better by now to not invoke their homeroom teacher’s wrath, especially in this topic.

They learn the results of the Midterm Exam a few days later. Everybody passed, except for Kaminari who had to be rescued from a deer by one of the 1-B kids an hour away from campus (the exam literally had a minute left by that point and he had been running in the opposite direction) and Kirishima who either failed the written exam, didn’t show his analysis in half of the essay portions (which is a quarter of the grade for the Mental Portion of Midterms), or didn’t finish the written exam in time. Mina barely passed the mental portion, Ochako almost failed the math and analysis portion if she hadn’t gained espionage points for successfully copying Izuku without getting caught and for gathering intel beyond what had been given to her for the physical portion. Aoyama kept staring off into the distance during the Midterms and had almost getting an F then and there for it looking like he had been staring at his phone or cheating off of someone, if he hadn’t managed to both prove them wrong and divert their attention to something (yes, he had gotten espionage points for that, somehow the interaction had given him intel which he had utilized during the physical exam. Though how the hell a conversation about cheating gave him such intel is beyond anybody. Principal Nedzu is laughing).

The shopping trip happened the day after they had gotten their results and been assured that everybody would be going to the Summer Camp.

The people who came are Ochako, Iida, Momo, Todoroki, Kirishima, Hagakure, Ojiro, Bakugou, Shouji, Izuku, Jirou, and Kaminari.

They look around the outlet mall then to each other.

“We should probably split up,” Momo suggests. “Given that most of us are here for different things and it will take longer to get them if we all just go in one big group.”

They nod in agreement.

“Yaoyorozu’s right, it will be a pain to just go as one group and we very well might annoy the other people here,” Ojiro says. “But we can’t exactly go alone either, Aizawa-sensei had told us to stick as close together as possible and leave not one person behind.”

“Okay, then how about we split up into different groups? For example, I need to get more pants and some camping supplies, so everybody who needs camping supplies and or pants can come with me, and if you need a different thing instead of pants but still need camping supplies, you can go with a different group that’s going to that store then join my group for when we go to the camping supplies store,” Iida suggests.

“Good idea, Iida-kun,” Ochako agrees, “But for the people who have multiple things they need to get, how about we have the multiple things people be their own group? That way we don’t have people wandering the mall looking for their next supply group. And they can just go together to the specific stores they need and we aren’t just congregating together as one single mob.”

“That works,” Jirou nods in agreement.

Izuku claps his hands together, “Okay then. We’re doing one multiple supplies group and 3 one-two supplies group?” Everybody nods their head. “Then let’s make it, 5 people for the multiple supplies group and 2-3 people for the ‘only needs to get one or two things’ group.”

“So, then… who needs multiple supplies?” Kirishima raises up, “Because I need to get at least 5 things from the list. Most of my family’s own camp supplies from our years of camping and the years I went to a camp are at least 5 years old and are ruined. So, I definitely need to replace those items.” Hagakure, Shouji, Bakugou, and Jirou raise their hand. “Okay, I’ll take these guys. I need flashlights first, what about you guys?”

“Gasoline,” Bakugou grunts, “The list requested gasoline, most likely for one of the events.”

“Ooh, maybe we’re doing some kind of science experiment, for us to need gasoline!” Hagakure jumps up and down in excitement. “I need an axe for my first thing.”

“Umbrella is the first item I’m looking for. Mine broke a few weeks back,” Jirou answers.

“The flashlights my family has are more built for house usage and there’s a possibility of a thunder storm in my area during the weeks we’ll be gone, so I can’t borrow them,” Shouji says, “So the first item on my list is getting a flashlight.”

“Okay then,” Kirishima nods, “The supplies for axe, gasoline, and flashlight might hopefully be in the same store. I’m not sure if an umbrella will be there too but there might be a store nearby for it.”

“We should check out the camping supplies store first then. It’s more likely the things we’re looking for first is going to be there,” Hagakure suggests. They nod and head off, waving goodbye to the others.

Iida turns to the remaining people, “Okay. So, I need to first get some more pants and shorts. Which means I’m heading to the clothing store. Who else needs more clothes?” Ojiro, Kaminari, and Todoroki raise their hand. “Okay, Todoroki and I will go to one store together and Kaminari and Ojiro can go together. Ojiro, Kaminari, what other thing do you need so that we aren’t all in the same store and aren’t crowding it?”

“I mean, clothes aren’t my priority, I just need one more shirt and that’s just for street wear, not the training camp,” Kaminari answers, “I do need to get a water bottle.”

“I need to get some metals…? So, I guess we’ll be doing some building like what Support does,” Ojiro checks the list on his phone.

“Okay, then I guess we’ll go to the metal shop first? See if they have any cheap raw metals we can get,” Kaminari decides. They walk off in the opposite direction of where Iida and Todoroki had gone.

“What the hell are we doing for these things to be on our ‘bring to camp’ list?” Momo mutters in confusion. “I thought we were just training our skills and Quirks…”

Izuku shrugs, “Well, whatever we’re doing, it seems like it’ll be fine.” Ochako turns to the two.

“I guess we’ll go together then as a group? I only need to get a raincoat,” Ochako asks.

“That’s fine. I just need to pick up this embroidery my mother commissioned the local artisan to make while I’m here. I already have everything on the list but I might as well check to see if I missed anything,” Momo replies, “What about you, Midoriya?” Izuku checks the list on his phone and hums in thought. He points at one item on his phone.

“I think I only need to get this,” the two girls look and nod.

“Okay, should be easy enough. We’ll get my raincoat, get Izuku’s item, then pick up that embroidery?” Ochako suggests. They agree and head off.

Ochako picks out her raincoat fairly quickly, which Momo pays for much to her protest. Yaoyorozu spends the visit to the store where Izuku searches for his items assuring Ochako that it was fine and she didn’t mind spoiling her friends a little bit.

Izuku ends up getting a dagger with a sheath and a combat bow with a quiver of arrows from his mom’s military friend’s blacksmith store. He had also been gifted several smoke bombs, flash grenades, and trip wire.

They left that store, shocked expressions on their faces, Izuku carrying an entire hiking backpack filled with the supplies. Uraraka, though, had a thoughtful expression on as well.

“I didn’t know your mom had a military friend,” Uraraka says.

Izuku shakes his head, shock soon replaced with awe, “I hadn’t even known my mom had once been _in_ the military once. But it certainly explains some of her actions in the past.”

Ochako and Momo decide to go to the embroidery store together while Izuku waits with the bags by the fountain.

That’s when his Intuition rings in his ear. His eyes narrow and look to the left of him. _To the left, a bit behind. Heading in my direction._ From his peripheral sight, he can see a hand and arm reach up towards his shoulder. _Planning to trap me? Duck out of reach._ Izuku ducks, drops his bags.

 _Drop and roll._ He drops, leaps forward, and rolls out of the position of whoever was apart to grab him. He gets up, feet dropping into a defense position, facing the person who had tried to grab him.

Even with the hoodie partially obscuring his face, Izuku easily recognizes the wavy, white-blue hair and the cracked lips. “Shigaraki… Tomura…” He presses his lips together and stretches his Intuition out, looking for any possible accomplices, how many civilians are in the area, and how quickly his _nakama_ can reach him before Shigaraki starts going through with whatever threats he makes. His frown deepens when the answer to his second question reaches him.

_Not that many people out and about in the center halls themselves but enough in the stores and second floor for an attack here to be considered a bloody massacre._

“Midoriya Izuku,” Shigaraki lets his hand down and faces Izuku, luckily ignoring his bags. Izuku did not feel like having to pay his own and his friends’ bought supplies all over again. Especially not the weapons which, even with the discount, still hurt his wallet.

“What do you want?”

He tilts his head to the side, at an odd angle that looked like it hurt. “You told me, back at the USJ, that you are not a toy. But, you’re in the Hero Course, soon to be surrounded by other Heroes all controlled by the Hero Commission. It took me a while to realize this, but that’s exactly what you and all the other Heroes are. And All Might is at the pinnacle, the trigger of it all. So, I will destroy Hero Society.”

Izuku’s eyes narrow then relax. He remembers what Shigaraki had said as well at the USJ. He smiles, grim.

“If I am a toy, then you are a puppet,” Izuku retrots. “Following whatever this Sensei of yours says and doing his bidding like a puppet on strings. At least as a toy, I have control over how much the Hero Commission can control me. I have a say as to what they can and can’t do with my agency, with my time, I have a say as to whether or not I’ll do what they ask of me. And they can’t throw a fit because then I can just throw every piece of dirt I have on them out to the public. And I have a ton of dirt on them, more than they can afford to sweep under the rug.” He smirks. “At least as a Hero, I can, will, and have already started on completely ruining the control freaks’ lives. I can get away with this, because if they try to sweep it away, the public would know I’m right, no matter what they do. You can do that as a puppet. That sensei of yours can control your every move and make you disappear off the face of the Earth and nobody would know to care and mourn, because he completely isolated you. It’s obvious in your mannerism and the way you act like a spoiled brat.” He steps forward, pissed but Izuku plows through with a single, “I’ve faced worse. A dead person can’t do shit as a puppet on strings, after all.”

Shigaraki snarls and dashes after Izuku, who smirks again. Hiding his fear and trepidation just like he always has, ducks and stabs Shigaraki’s hands, arms, and shoulder with his fist. Then taps and grips Shigaraki’s shirt, uses his momentum to throw him up, over, and on to the ground.

Yaoyorozu and Uraraka arrive just in that moment, when Shigaraki’s hood falls off to reveal his face and hair. They gasp, Izuku backs off, Yaomomo calls the police, and Ochako runs over and taps Shigaraki in the face, causing him to float. She backs out of the range of his hands while he cusses and flails at not feeling the ground and not being able to use his arms.

Before they could do anything else, Momo ending the 119 call, the unfortunately familiar black mist appears and consumes Shigaraki after he flails and floats his way to it.

They all curse at not thinking to tie him up or at least stop him. But let it go, glad that no civilians got hurt in the end. Izuku goes and grabs their supplies, handing Ochako her bag with the raincoat in it.

The others freak out once they return to the meeting place and are informed of what happened.

“Midoriya,” Kaminari moves to Izuku, placing his hands on his shoulders, head down. Then he lifts his head up and starts shaking Izuku, freaked out and pissed, “HOW THE HELL DO YOU KEEP ENDING UP IN THIS HORRIBLE SITUATIONS!?”

The police arrive and take his statement.

Toshinori keeps Izuku close as he walks him home.

Kaa-san and Tou-san hold him tightly for the rest of the night until bedtime. Mom freaks out upon learning that her old military friend is in town and opened that shop she’d always talked about opening.

And Izuku freaks out upon learning that his mom had apparently been in the Marines for a few years and that it was actually how she got her degree in law and medical training. She had apparently been the best sniper in the Marines in her prime. His dad just looked proud while his mom looked embarrassed like it wasn’t something to be proud and amazed by, as she takes out all the awards and certificates she had earned as a Marine Crops woman out of the storage closet.

It takes the both of them the rest of the week to convince her to display these things instead of just leaving them in a box every move.


	13. Summer Camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long wait I know but I had to finish school and get a new laptop.   
> This one is the entirety of the summer camp arc in the actual camp.   
> The only hint for this chapter is:   
>  Hyper Intuition is a very powerful thing when the player really, really wants to avoid a specific situation such as death and missing people. Quick action and reaction means better survival.

They had stopped the bus on the side, under the pretense of getting off to go to the restroom. There was nowhere to go.

There was the mountain the road was hugging on, and then the drop of the cliff on the other side of the road. Right past the tiny stop area where they are.

Everybody seemed to realize this the moment Izuku pointed out the fact that there wasn’t a restroom stop or anywhere safe enough to stop in this area. The class gets on guard immediately.

The Pussycats arrive then. Aizawa says something about having to fight to get to the camp.

Next thing they know, they are running into the woods, down the cliff.

Izuku sighs then runs and jumps into the trees. He starts swinging and jumping through them, tapping the trees and quickly reaching the next one without hesitation. The momentum gets him through the trees faster. He hears some of the others following him.

He senses Guardian Indigo swinging to the left of him. Guardian Purple farther right and back. Guardian Red following close by to his right, flanking him. Guardian Green behind him. Guardian Yellow farther left, with Family Green. Guardian Blue flanking his left with Family Yellow; Family Purple farther behind them on ground level. Family Red runs ahead on ground level, looking out for trouble and yelling out warnings. Family Indigo runs under where Izuku is, with Family Blue streaking ahead in front of them. The other Friend Flames are running in-between, up in the trees or down on the ground, proving support.

Izuku registers his thought process and nearly slams into a tree trunk, shrieking to a stop. Breathing heavily, he touches his chest. “Oh…” he breathes out. The Flames around him hum in excitement and adventure, with a few disgruntled at the unexpected dirt bath/obstacle-course-run through the woods. He puffs out a laugh. “Oh.” Orange curls around his _nakama_ and dances cheerfully through the air. One For All hums in curiosity and warmth underneath his skin, unfamiliar with the feelings and powers streaming through the air but happy for Izuku. He can sense though that it was disgruntled over being shaken awake by the Flames’ dancing and singing happiness. Izuku laughs and breathes in the feeling of sensing baby Flames and slowly awakening Flames.

It felt like Namimori with Tsuna and his friends. Tears slide down Izuku’s face, he clasps his pendent. He hadn’t even realized that he had missed this feeling. But now, the pressure of telling his classmates the truth about his Flames presses heavily onto his shoulders. At least now, he knows that he can tell them with this revelation of his world having Flames, even with it being weaker than the ones in Tsuna’s universe.

Asui stops on the tree branch with him. “What’s wrong, Midoriya, kero?” She asks him. He can sense some of the others pausing near him.

Izuku shakes his head, smiling. “Nothing. There’s just a lot of energy here and I wasn’t expecting it.”

Tsuyu didn’t seem to believe him but she doesn’t call him out on the lie, to his gratitude. Technically speaking though, he wasn’t lying; there is a ton of energy here. Just not the energy the others may think of.

Izuku shakes his thoughts away and focuses back on the task of getting to camp. He heads off again, the others who had paused with him moving again as well.

They arrived at the camp, only to learn that 1-B got to arrive there by bus. They all screamed at Aizawa who only gave a scary grin in response. At least they got to enjoy the hot spring bath first.

Izuku forgot that hot springs met everybody in the hot spring with him would see his scars (He had always used the stalls in the locker rooms or changed in the shower stalls after washing to change). Not the scars on his hands and arms from using his Flames (and One For All past its current limit during the Internships) without proper protection during the Sports Festival, but the scars he had gained while kidnapped and the scars he had gained fighting by Tsuna’s side in the Future That Never Was, Against Deamon and the Simons, and the Arcobaleno Fight. Some of those scars have healed into just white lines but most of them are only 1, maybe 2 years old, except for the bullet scar on his chest which is 6 years old.   
He knows they’re going to ask questions.

He dredges the questions. But he doesn’t want to miss the chance to bathe in a hot spring.

Just like he had expected, he heard some of the boys gasping upon seeing his back, before he set foot in the hot spring bath and sank down. Izuku decided to just get it over with, so he ducks into the pool.

He resurfaces and everybody in the hot spring sucks in a breath upon seeing the rest of the scars on his front. But they look away and don’t comment. Iida politely jumping in and changing the subject to distract all the boys from the scars Izuku had hidden from sight before.

Bakugou was shaking. Izuku didn’t know if it was rage _for_ him or rage _at_ him for having scars before the rest of them had. Or just rage in general.

Red sparks in his mind’s eye, mixed with the smell of nitroglycerin and the ringing aftereffect sound of an explosion. Green lights up with the sounds of falling rocks in his mind’s eye, dancing almost protectively around him and the others. Family blue washes over calmly, trying to get the questions nonexistent, with Guardian blue looking up with a curious inquiry to know what was happening on the boys’ side. Izuku shakes off the colors, and partially ducks down into the water to hide his smile.

“Thanks, Iida,” He tells him softly when he moves closer. Iida just nods at him and very carefully doesn’t look at his scars.

“Midoriya,” Sero speaks up, unable to take it anymore. Then he stops, seeming to think better of it. Izuku sits up and shakes his head.

“It’s okay. We’re all going to be working together some day, so it’s only right to want to know. I can’t tell you everything just yet, but you can ask,” he tells them.

“HOW THE HELL DO YOU HAVE SOME MANY SCARS?!” Bakugou explodes.   
“They are pretty manly though,” Kirishima adds more quietly than Bakugou.

“No,” Izuku shakes his head, “It isn’t great that I got them. Especially the ones I gained from my kidnapping. But. They are a sign that I survived.” He traced one scar on his upper right arm. It was the first bullet wound Reborn gave him, scarred because the bullet had managed to dig and graze deeper than the other rubber bullets Reborn had sent his way. “They are a sign that I’m still here and though I sometimes flinch when I see them as some might remind me of a traumatizing time, they are a comfort too, because they are proof that I fought to the bittersweet end. It isn’t great that I got them in the first place nor that I experienced the things I did” _I don’t regret meeting Tsuna and later on my Namimori_ nakama _though_ , he privately thinks, “But I can simply portray this as a sign that things need to change, if nobody else wants to experience or see the things I had.”

The others fall silent for a moment after that. Then Kaminari points to his own chest with a questioning yet troubled glance towards his chest. “Was that one from the kidnapping? It looks older than some of the others,” he asks. Izuku is only just able to hold in his flinch as he lightly touches the area where the bullet wound in question is. The one from the USJ was between his collarbone and a rough dark pink with dark bruising around it only recently settling down; the one Kaminari pointed out was a white-pink, barely the size of a US nickel, with scar lines and raised skin branching out of it similar to a frantic and rough searching of a little kid trying to pull something out. Izuku remembers the pain and going in and out of consciousness. The desperate clinging to life driven by sheer force of will and spite. An emergency surgery done in the train car with no supplies to help. He had been lucky the bullet had stayed mostly in tact upon impact.

“Yes,” Izuku nods, “It was from the kidnapping.” During the days after, he could sometimes still hear the bullet leaving the barrel and coming towards him. He had nightmares for months after of the surgery failing, leaving his mother and father behind without a by your leave and them aware of their child being dead, of never getting to UA and being a Hero, of never being with Tsuna and co. Many nights spent curled up next to Tsuna, in their mind palace and both of them trying desperately to remind themselves they got out and are free.

It was not a memory or an experience Izuku would wish upon anybody, not even his worst enemy. (One For All grumbled a bit at that thought in the back of his mind, having been wishing the thought upon their worst enemy. His Flames responded by showing them the memory and the experience. Both powers feel silent soon after. Izuku is simply glad they hadn’t done it in a way that the memory would have played before his own eyes.)

The entire onsen fell silent upon the word kidnapping. Only the sounds of the forest and the girls in their own onsen could be heard for that moment.

Kirishima claps his hands and says, “Still, that was manly of you to fight for your survival, even when you had no idea if you were even going to make it in time. And though it left you with a scar, you get through it and are now here with us, which is all that matters.” Family Yellow shines bright with an easy, happy flash of joy in knowing their Sky made it out alive and is here with them. Izuku smiles, welcoming the abundance of Flames not active to curl around him in a hug and a protective circle (even the girls’ inactive Flames happily join in the hug). Sky melts happily in a puddle, purring in happiness over finally feeling Flames – though inactive – playing, cuddling, and being with him after months of the Cold and Silence. One For All observes all of this in silent curiousity and unsurety, occasionally allowing its fingers to comb through the Sky Flames billowing and dancing inside and out (not enough to be visible in the outside world but enough to where it lightens and breathes through the air in a way that makes everyone within its reach feel warm, accepted, and welcomed).

After the hot spring bath, they sat down for dinner; the Pussycats made them dinner for tonight and then they’d have to make them from now on.

Then it was bedtime, for it was late.

Having finally sensed Flames for the first time since he came home that wasn’t his own, Izuku slept easily that night and only woke up once due to someone going to the bathroom.

Training for the next three days after the traveling day was absolute hell, according to 1-B and 1-A. To which the teachers all just grinned about and carried on with.

And to the shock of everyone, Izuku just shrugs it off and carried on, finishing each training assignment within 10 minutes tops. Reborn was far, far worse of a Hell Teacher than what UA has thrown at him.

“UA isn’t throwing us into battle and shooting bullets at our heads every time we fail or need a power boost,” Izuku absently comments on the second day when asked, during break, why this training seems to be so easy for him, “This is nothing but a warm-up compared to that. To be honest, I keep expected bullets to be shot my way while I’m fighting you all or for me to be dodging bullets left and right while doing the obstacle course. UA is prep school compared to that.”

“Your kidnappers made you go through that,” Shinsou asks, horrified as he lays in breathless agony on the ground.

Izuku pauses in the motion of drinking from his water bottle and abruptly remembers where he is. These kids didn’t experience Reborn and wouldn’t understand what he meant, nor would they even be asking those questions if they had. _Fuck,_ he panics internally and swallows, setting down his water bottle. “Uh, not exactly. …It’s a long story.” He sweatdrops, unsure of how to explain. “Let’s just say I experienced Hell Training for one year before I was found and leave it at that.”

Ochako crosses her arms, frowning, “What exactly do you mean, Deku?”

Izuku sucks in a breath. “Like I said, it’s a long story and incredibly complicated. And let’s just say that it wasn’t the kidnappers who put through that.”

The others could tell that he really didn’t want to talk about it and decide maybe, now wasn’t the time.

Tomoko-san calls them back in to continue the one-on-one. They get told that this time, they’ll be learning how to fight multiple people by yourself and then with a team.

The Pussycats as a villain team will be attacking Aizawa as a solo hero to demonstrate.

Then one person will be picked as the solo hero and 3 to 4 will be picked as a villain team.

“Backup isn’t always going to show up on time or isn’t able to reach you for whatever reason,” Vlad-sensei explains.

“Because of this, you need to be able to fight multiple enemies for long periods of time,” Aizawa continues. “You’ll be starting off in this training camp with up to 4 enemies that you have to take down within seconds. Next, you’ll learn how to fight multiple enemies with your hero team even if the enemies have more. Back at UA, at some point, you’ll learn how to fight multiple enemies as a distraction to give your teammates much needed time by yourself – a scenario will be created for you to better understand what situations might popup for these strategies to be needed. After that, you and your assigned hero team will learn how to fight multiple enemies as a distraction to give other teams more time as a set unit. Then we’ll get into being able to fight multiple enemies for long periods of time.”

“Wait, why don’t we start out with fighting for extended periods of time?” Awase asks in confusion.

“Because you need to build up your ability to fight for extended periods of time and not just expect your body to be able to last for longer than 10 minutes in your first extended battle without preparation,” Izuku interjects. “It’s like what happened for us of 1-A. We got lucky because the villains, despite being grouped together, fought us individually with only one or two people going and sneaking up on us while we’re distracted. We’re not always going to be so lucky, you may find yourself fighting for hours upon hours against multiple enemies all at once who are trained to fight as one machine. In a scenario like that, you’ll die within a few minutes if you aren’t trained to fight that many enemies, by yourself, for long periods of time.”

“Yeah, and building up to that scenario, rather than just being thrown head first into it, is far better for your survival rate and the successfulness of your mission,” Iida picks up. “Like Midoriya said, we got lucky that time. But luck isn’t always on our side.”

“Correct, 1-A. People are also far more likely to trust a hero who has training and experience in the realm of fighting for long periods of time than they are to trust someone who was just thrown headfirst into such a fight,” Soseki-san puts in. “Your body needs to adjust and learn such things in a slow and steady pace, otherwise it’s not going to stick.”

The Pussycats and Aizawa go into position.

“In this case scenario, I’m trying to get to something and the Pussycats are trying to stop me,” Aizawa says before the scenario starts, “Usually this kind of scenario means there is a time limit for the hero, the villains can take as much time as they want as long as the hero doesn’t get access to their objective and run out of time. This means that I have to finish these guys off incredibly quickly before time runs out.”

Yawara-san states, “This is what happens if you succeed in defeating the enemies and get to the objective in time.”

“Remember, no dilly-dalling,” Tomoko-san teases.

Vlad calls it in.

“START!”

Izuku, out of the corner of his eye, spots Kouta running off somewhere. He frowns and makes a note to investigate, remembering Pussycat Soseki’s words. But for now, he focuses back onto watching his teacher knock out the Pussycats in quick succession.

It is the fourth day. Everybody was exhausted, even Izuku was starting to feel the pain from endless work.

“Are we done yet?” Mina whimpers as they walk to the clearing where they’ve been training.

“Okay,” Soseki, in costume, claps her hands, “We’ll be doing something different this time as the last activity of this training camp!”

They are beaconed to come closer to the forest edge. A low-pitched resonance sang in his ear when he steps closer. He pauses and frowns in confusion. The pitch stays the same. He steps forward and it gets louder.

He steps back and it quiets. He steps forward and it rings louder. Izuku winces when this happens.

The two kids closest to him, Ochako and Tokoyami, turn to look at him in confusion and worry.

Then the teachers start explaining something about going into the forest and creating a fear tactic towards each other so they can at least start training themselves against such things and be ready for any attack, even sneak attacks.

The resonance echo turns into a ringing, like a low toned warning bell first. Izuku immediately grasps his head and bends over in pain, grunting. Tokoyami and Ochako suck in a breath and quickly approach him, worried.

“Midoriya?!” The lecture stops and everybody turns to look at him. The rest of 1-A runs up to him and surrounds him.

He tries to wave them off and just deal with it alone, not wanting to worry anyone, but the warning bell turns into a full-on lockdown tornado warning alarm blaring through his head and pressing him down to his knees. He shrieks in pain and fear, having never gotten this kind of warning before. Usually the warnings only went up to school fire alarm warning levels when danger is near.

This warning could only mean one thing: someone will go missing or end up dead if he didn’t act now and stop the activity from being done. The thought doesn’t register but his heart burns with the unconscious knowledge, hardening his determination enough to pierce through the warnings and headache to warn someone.

“What is this? What’s happening to him?” Kendo asks, confused and mildly beginning to panic at the grim expressions 1-A is beginning to get on their faces.

“Midoriya has only reacted like this once before,” Satou grimly informs 1-B, turning to look at them, “That time was during the USJ on our bus ride over there.” The Pussycats, 1-B, and Vlad-sensei’s breathes all stutter at such a pronouncement. Aizawa-sensei looked grim.

“Yes, but it wasn’t as bad as it looks to be now, am I correct, Midoriya?” 1-A’s teacher asks.

“H- hai, sensei,” Izuku struggles to say. “Th – the alarm ringing in my head is up to a lockdown tornado warning level. Something – somethings’ in the forest and it means harm. Not just injury harm but death. Pos – possibly causing missing persons… or a kidnapping o - r death a - n _d_ a missing person. That level of danger. Family danger, don’t go. That – that’s all I’m able to hear, but it’s bad enough to where if someone doesn’t go missing or get visibly seen kidnapped, then someone will die.”

Pussycat Yawara has run off back to the base to call for backup and police.

“You guys. All of you, get back to the base _now_. We’re not risking anything,” Aizawa commands. “Act like nothing’s wrong and Midoriya or someone else is just not feeling well enough to play. We’ll act as if this training requires everybody to work.” Izuku gets helped up and pulled to the base with everybody quickly walking over there.

Izuku remembers that Kouta has run off to his hideout and turns to Aizawa.

“Se – sensei, Kouta.”

Aizawa frowns and answers, “I’ll tell the Pussycats and get someone to bring him back.” Izuku got the feeling that he had to be the one to do this.

“No,” he shakes off his helpers and faces Aizawa completely. “I’ll do it.”

He sighs in frustration and tiredness, “Problem chi –”

“No. The headache’s let up. I can do this. I’m faster.”

“Then Iida can –”

“Aizawa-sensei,” he firmly interrupts, standing tall and strong. Standing exactly how a certain Underground Hero would have had he been in the same situation given the same chance to rescue someone.

Aizawa closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Be as fast – no, faster than Iida, get Kouta then come back immediately. I don’t care if you have to just yank him by the collar and hold him under your arm like he’s a puppy, do not engage the enemy if there is opportunity to escape. Understand?”

“HAI!” Izuku sprints off, One For All 30% running through his veins, sprinting through the woods to Kouta’s hideout in the mountains.

“Problem child.” Aizawa rolls his eyes and continues directing students back to the base.

“Aizawa-sensei –” Ochako tries to ask. “He’ll be fine, Uraraka. He has to be.”

Trees and bushes past by as Izuku barrels and jumps through, onto, up, down, around them, this way and that way. A blur to the human eyes with the wind swinging the trees and other plants in the direction he’s running towards.

Until he reaches the mountains, takes one step on the ground, and practically flies towards Kouta. Grabbing him by the collar and swinging him bride-style into his arms, he twists so his feet land on the mountain wall and pushes off of that, straight past the figure that had just walked in. Into the forest.

Izuku twists and sends a blast of Flame only 5% lower than Tsuna’s standard X-Burner at the figure, slamming them into the mountain. Causing it to collapse onto the figure. He sends another blast, this time a giant spear of Flame that turned into a Zero Point Breakthrough spear, right at the figure’s heart just as they start to stand up. The hood falls off, revealing them to be the Water Horse’s killer, as he collapses back into the mountain.

Izuku turns back to focusing on running through the forest, jumping and twisting out of obstacles. Kouta finally snaps out of his shock.   
“Wh – what?”

“The camp is about to get attacked,” Izuku says curtly.

“Wh – how do you know?”

“That figure was about to attack you, wasn’t he?” Izuku glances at him briefly with a raised eyebrow then turns back to focusing on the path. Kouta falls silent at that and simply broods in his arms.

After a few moments of running at 30%, Izuku starts to slow down the percentage until it is at a more comfortable for extra riders’ level. 1/4th of a cup should work.

He lets the silence lengthen until he finally decides to say what’s been on his mind.

“You know, kid,” he begins quietly. Kouta looks up at him, “Grief is okay. There’s nothing wrong with crying for someone you love or even wanting them back. But, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, crying isn’t going to bring a dead person back. Shaming someone else for their dreams isn’t going to bring a dead person back either.”

Kouta’s eyes widen and his body stiffens. He starts to say something, beginning to look angry but Izuku prowls through, words falling out of his mouth now that he’s started.

“It will be a long, long time before that particular wound heals. I should know. It’s been 25 years but there are still times when my father would be staring numbly at a picture of his mother, my grandmother. Times when he would start crying even as he reminisces the good times. My father is still grieving for his mother, Kouta. The wound festered and festered and festered until it finally became something so painful, he could barely leave the bed without pain, until every breath was a painful one because his Quirk, Fire Breath, kept getting caught in his throat and lungs and choking him. His father, my grandfather, only made it worse with his words and actions. To this day, he is still recovering psychologically, with a therapist, from his mother’s death and his father’s action. I have never met my grandfather and he, hopefully, does not know of my existence as his grandson. But my father loved him and he took advantage of that, made him blame Hero Society and Heroes in general when they were not even the people who had killed his mother. Hero Society did not even know of my father’s existence until he made himself known as an Underground Hero after years of vigilante work.”

Kouta stares at Izuku silently, wide eyed, as he slows to a walk. The base only a few feet away. He goes up the hill, Tomoko waiting for him and Kouta by the entrance.

“Grief is a powerful thing, Kouta. But that doesn’t mean you have to let it control you. That doesn’t mean you have to allow it to damage you so much that you turn around and damage someone else simply to feel better. It will be a long time before that wound heals, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start now.” Ryuko runs up to them and takes Kouta from him, setting him down and looking over him worriedly.   
“Are you two okay?”   
“Yes, ma’am/Aunt Ryuko.”

She gestures for Kouta to head inside.

Kouta turns to look at Izuku one last time. “Is it really okay?”

Izuku smiles softly and replies, “I’m sure your parents would much prefer you remember the happier times and the times you spent with them, rather than their death.”

He recommends, “It is better to remember them as if they are still alive and simply away for a bit as a starting recovery point than to start from death. Go to the memory of their death when you feel you are ready and able to think of them without the death coming up first.” Kouta thinks about it then nods. He heads inside.

Ryuko turns to look at Izuku, looking as if she were about to comment then decides instead to say, “Thank you.” He nods and smiles nervously in reply, unsure how sound his advice is but not able to think of anything else that would work for the kid. Ryuko gestures for him to get inside, turning grim and looking out to the forest.

“Go, get to the bunker. Yawara will lead you the way.” She readies her weapon in a guard position as he nods and moves inside.

Yawara-san is waiting for him with Kouta and Aizawa-sensei.

They move through the maze of a base, then down the basement to a bunker door on the floor.

It is open. Kouta goes down the ladder first, then Izuku, and then Aizawa. Yawara closes and locks the bunker.

“Wait, what about Uncle Yawara?” Kouta asks worriedly.

“They’re going to defend for a short while and will join us through the hidden forest bunker door,” Aizawa leads them through the lightly lit hallway to the first open area where the 1-A and 1-B wait. Izuku’s class surges forward and grab him, dragging him into the fold. They easily welcome Kouta into the fold when he walks over. Everybody is silent. Ojiro hands Izuku his backpack, Izuku nods in thanks.

“Alright, listen up,” Vlad says, careful not to yell as the walls were not echo proof. “You all need to be as silent as possibly because these walls are not echo proof and we don’t know what these Villains’ Quirks are, if they have someone with the ability to hear through walls and dirt and metal like Jirou Kyoka of 1-A, we don’t know. We all are going to evacuate, turn off your cell phones and other electronics if you can. They may have someone with the ability to track phones and other electronics.” Everybody silently pulls out their phone and other electronics if they have them and turn them off before returning them to their backpacks.   
“The Pussycats built these bunker tunnels to connect to the cave system nearby and the nearest city’s underground train tunnel system. All cave entrances have been closed and locked down,” Aizawa-sensei adds, “So we need to reach the underground train system. That’s about 2 hours walk, an hour if we run. We are not running as the running footsteps may alert the Villains. Everybody, grab a hand and hold on tight enough to cause nail marks on skin. Make it to where someone getting yanked away will alert the rest of the connected people that someone’s here who shouldn’t be here.”

Everybody links arms and hands, holding on.

“The underground train system should be northwest of here, start walking.”

Everybody starts walking on that direction through the tunnel made to look and sound like a cave system with reinforced walls.

The ground vibrated and dust feel onto their faces many times initially but it stopped by the time they passed the mountains about an hour and a quarter into the walk. Not a single person let go of the hand or arm they held onto, even when they got sweaty, simply switched from hands to arm or locked elbows and vice versa. The 1-A kids had learned their lesson from the USJ and are not about to repeat it, 1-B took initiative from 1-A having heard the stories about locking hands and letting go at the wrong time.

The Pussycat Girls joined them at the conjecture where two other branches joined from the left and right. They had used the right underground tunnels hidden in the very mountains Kouta had used as a hideout. They didn’t comment to Izuku but he had noticed their thankful nods as he was passing Kouta over to them. They had managed to distract the Villains with the camp defense system, decoys, and the occasional smoke bomb and actual fiery explosions triggered by fire. Bakugou and the other pyromaniacs of the heroes-in-training whined very quietly at the missed opportunity to blow shit up and watch the Villains run like headless chickens. A single headshake from Izuku and the other disappointed parents of the Hero Course silences them. A head count was made, they locked hands and arms again and were on their way.

They all safely made it to the last train platform leading into the city, leaving the underground at first to walk through some grass then up the steps to the platform, within the two hours proposed. They showed their tickets to the train guard and the Heroes stepped forward and explained the situation to which they were allowed through to wait for the train. A head count is made, everybody was there.

While they waited, some went to the restroom.

The train heading for the city moves into position from the tunnel entrance they had just come from, from the train resting place which was a different route from where they had been, a short while later. Another head count was made.

They all get onto the train; another head count was made to make sure everybody was in and no one was during some last minute restroom break. Everybody was in and the train door closes.

Izuku sighs in relief and flops listlessly onto the train bench, Hyper Intuition finally silent and headache completely gone. Everybody else also takes a seat or grabs a handle and braces themselves.

They head back to the city center, to UA, in quiet whispers, turning on of phones and mindless scrolling, listless silence, staring at and out the subway window and watching the scenery past by, or blank numb staring to the ground.

“Sorry about the camp,” Vlad quietly apologizes to the Pussycat Girls. Ryuko waves him off. “It’s not yours and anyone’s fault. In fact,” she turns to look at Midoriya who’s watching the scenery pass by in silent contemplation and worry, “If it hadn’t have been for that kid, it probably would have been a lot worse. If that kid’s alarm system hadn’t been triggered the moment we got close to the forest… I don’t even want to imagine what could have happened.” Aizawa hums in acknowledgement, contemplating. She turns back to face Aizawa and Vlad. “Besides, nobody could have predicted that these kids would get attacked again outside of UA’s walls.”

Aizawa crosses his arms and leans back, “Yeah. But we should have. If they did once, then nothing’s stopping them from doing it again, until we capture every last one of them.”   
“This incident only proves Nedzu’s suggestion of dormitories from all those years ago to look more and more like a good idea,” Vlad finishes with a sigh. The Pro Heroes fall silent.

Most of the students still haven’t let go of their chosen buddies, some leaning against them tiredly and others just holding them as a reminder that they got out.

Chosen route: No death, No Kidnapping.

Summer Camp Arc: Completed.


	14. Confrontation at Kamino, Reunited Father & Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is heavy with lore about Midoriya Hisashi and his past. It has also reveals his hero name.   
> I gave him two.   
> Here's my tumblr if you want to scream at me or ask me any questions: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/writermich18. Any hate or rude comments will get deleted without comment.

Class 1-A has always been a little weird, especially with the wide range of personalities and Quirks. Most people, when meeting the entire group without context of them being Hero Students, get immediately weirded out and filled with the need to get out of the area. UA isn’t most people and neither are the Villains they find themselves constantly having to shake off.

What happened in Kamino is just the tip of the iceberg of Strange Incidences & Coincidences TM revolving around the Heroes, usually the Hero Students, and society has collectively decided not to talk about or put in the history textbooks.

Basically, it boils down to the old saying from the 2000s:

What happened in Kamino, stays in Kamino.

“Trust me, you don’t wanna know,” the (currently students) Pro Heroes in the future would say when asked by the future generations what exactly happened.

Surprising that the footage taken hadn’t survived. Oh, well. Guess they hadn’t yet created fire-resistant recording devices and footage reels, too bad.

On to the next arc I gu – OW! Okay, okay. Fine, the reader will hear of what happened.

Remember, reader. What happens in Kamino _, stays in Kamino_.

Remember when I had hinted earlier of what exactly Izuku’s father was doing? In Kamino specifically and to the League of Villains, doing his job as an Underground Hero?

Well…

Let’s just say that a pissed off Shigaraki was destroying some unfinished Noumu to the fury and despair of the Doctor (who had suspicious metal-burn marks on his skin) when the young Hero was almost caught taking some vital information.

He managed to get away from the Doctor and Shigaraki before they catch sight of the one sabotaging their work and get to the second floor of the warehouse – which was more of a series of walkways than a second floor. In the shadows, he sneaks to where his chosen escape route is.

The Underground Hero, Hi Akari (火明り, to the public) or Hokage (火影, to the underworld), lightly speeds to the small entrance in the roof window he had made.

Hi Akari is climbing up the window and is about to be completely out when something wraps around his foot. Recognizing the sensation even after years away, the courageous hero panickily opened a small portal using his fire and threw the precious package into the portal. He gets yanked back into the warehouse just in time to see it close behind the package of information.

He didn’t allow himself to feel relief. The rope-like thing wrapped around his leg yanks him down from the second-floor walkways, slamming him down into the ground.

His hood gets slightly crooked in the fall but luckily, his mask and hood stay firmly on. He gasps from the shock and pain of landing on his back.

Clapping sounds from the shadows as his bruising body is lifted by the leg to hang in the air. The hood, to Hi Akari’s relief, stays on but hangs farther down to the floor than normal. Most of his clothes remain in their proper place though the loose parts do follow gravity’s unfortunate demands. Not enough to dislodge anything just yet though.

Chuckles spread and echo through the warehouse as from the shadows, a man – _more of a machine, really,_ Hi Akari thinks dryly and humorously to himself – walks closer to him.

The false information they had tried to feed him with burned in his pocket but he gave no indication he had realized their trick.

“A valiant effort, really, young hero,” All For One crones, sympathetically. _Don’t try me with that, you fake-ass bitch_ , he thinks indignantly but his persona stays firmly on and remains silent. “But, in the end, a foolish endeavor. What? Think yourself powerful enough with your Quirk to get by me?” He scoffs.

Behind his mask, Hi Akari’s lips twitch up. Meditation, really powerful when you actually bother with it. _You really have gotten senile, old man. You were the one who taught me that strength didn’t mean everything or guaranteed success._

“Whatever else you may have in store,” the masked hero’s modified and deepened voice pitches, “I am not All Might nor any of the other people whom you have faced before.” He falls silent again.

The old Villain pauses. Static silence fills the room for a moment, only occasionally broken by All For One’s breathing mask.

Then laughter begins to fill the room.

Meanwhile, the information lands on Principal Nedzu’s conference table via fire portal just as the Heroes are sitting down to discuss how to handle this League of Villains so they will stop attacking the students on their field trips, and how to protect said students from the possibility of getting attacked on their way home.

“Ah,” Nedzu blinks then smiles cheerfully. Everybody feels a sudden spike of fear. “It would appear Hokage has kept his promise after all. And it would appear that we have a change in plan. We now have to rescue Hokage from the clutches of All For One and the League of Villains.”

That spike of fear was back.

Aizawa, having worked more with Hokage/Hi Akari out of the group, felt more horror than fear for his fellow Underground Hero. The man had already been in danger with the Commission constantly sending him on solo undercover missions until the Underground Hero Protection Act of 2145 was created, stopping the Heroic Public Safety Commission from touching the Underground Heroes and making them freelance with connections via several government-assigned jobs. That hero is absolutely reckless and Aizawa remembers groaning in despair upon learning Midoriya is his son and just as reckless as Hisashi himself.

Aizawa had heard the horror stories from Hokage himself about All For One and his connection to him. Which was why Eraserhead immediately volunteered himself as a rescuer. If nothing else, as long as All Might provides a distraction to All For One and the others a distraction to any other Villains who may be there, he knew he could get Hokage out of there with relatively minimum trouble.

But Principal Nedzu shot him down as a rescuer.

“The students need you now more than Hokage, Eraserhead,” he sets his foot down before any arguments could be made, “They need you alive and away from enemy hands. Whose to say this isn’t a trap set up to capture you specifically? That reminds me, this warning goes to all of you who will be apart of this rescue and capture mission and those of you who won’t. You are much better alive than dead, even if it means failing this rescue mission.” Everybody stiffens.

“But Hokage –” Midnight starts.

“Would agree with Principal Nedzu,” Eraserhead interrupts, grim but resigned. “None of us are good help to Hokage captured or dead. And dead is exactly what you’re going to be if you don’t remain careful and don’t get out of there the moment the situation turns out of your control and horrible.”

The room is silent at that declaration.

Back with Hokage and All For One.

Hi Akari lands, grunting, into one of the many containers. Ujiko probably would have protested if he had still been there. He shakily climbs out of the now-broken container, shivering as his body steams. The glass shatters and tings onto the floor as his wounds heal.

Hi Akari shakes his head then takes off his cloak, deciding the danger of it getting caught by the monster of a Villain wasn’t worth anything. The taking off of the cloak reveals his long curly white hair and causes All For One to pause in his action of sending Forced Activation vines at him. Now that the cloak was off, All For One is able to sense the hero completely.

But before he can process fully what the information is telling him, Hi Akari blasts nine tails of fire at him which he manages to block or invade but does force him back.

“You truly are a foolish child, facing me,” he walks towards the hero who has jumped back several times, avoiding his blasts of shadows and lighting.

Hi Akari responds by flicking his wrists. Lines of runes appear around his wrist and lower arm, and glowing red-white lines spark and dance within his hands – similar to One For All’s lighting lines in Izuku’s hands and All For One’s dancing lines in his hands. He jumps back again, dodging another blast of shadow and lighting. His hands shake as he throws them back then brings them forward and claps.

A heatwave of air pressure, energy, and green lighting explodes outwards from the clap, blasting like a tornado and hurricane combo threw the walls, ceiling, floor, and materials in the building like there’s nothing there to stop the wind. It destroys the entire front of the building and a bit of the side walls, and some of the sidewalk.

All For One is shot back a few feet but stops his momentum before he hits the second building in the front.

Hi Akari breathes in and out, his arms shaking from the attack. He quickly flicks his wrists again, the energy runes disappearing. Lighting sparks every now and again from the damaged area.

The smoke starts to fade; Hi Akari sucks in a breath and lunges forward into the damaged parts rolling away from the place where he was before. The smoke disappears completely, revealing All For One wasn’t in the spot that he had been pushed to. The hero turns to face the attacker who had been about to grab his neck, only to see it was Shigaraki instead of All For One.

Hi Akari didn’t even pause to think, just breathed fire out and created a sword with it. He points it in a guard position to Shigaraki. The crazed Villain just scratches at his neck in agitation and rage.

“You damn heroes,” he says, breathing heavily, “Always getting in the way!” He reaches a hand out, lunging but Hi Akari simply dodges and lightly pushes the hand away with his sword. Shigaraki jumps back, hissing in pain, revealing the sword had caught his wrist in a burn.

There is silence for a moment as they assess each other warily and angrily (Shigaraki).

“So,” Hi Akari speaks up sometime in the silence, “You’re the old man’s latest pet project. I’m sure he promised you revenge, fed you lies, gaslighted you many times over the years, and declared you his successor, and all you had to do was destroy this one person for him. I’m sure he made you feel like a prince who just needed to prove himself worthy of the throne.”

“Pet?!” Shigaraki shrieks in rage, “I am no pet! I am the leader of the League of Villains, and you and the rest of Hero Society will be destroyed for what you’ve done!”

Behind his mask, Hi Akari’s lips pierce together and then he exclaims to the open air, “So this is it, old man? This first pet fails so you make another one, then he fails too. And now, you’re using someone who shouldn’t even be involved, making him your pet.” He turns to address the frothing villain who is angry at being ignored. “Kid, trust me. Revenge is not a place for anybody, it is not something you want to be. There have been many in this line of work who have walked that line, do you want to know where they are?”

“Not particularly,” he seethes then lunges again towards the hero who simply sends a wave of air pressure with his sword that sends the man-child right into one of the broken console tables. The Villain groans in pain and is about to force himself out of it when the Hero’s next words freezes him.

“Dead, kid. Every single one of them is dead. Killed by their own blind need for revenge.”

Hi Akari then turns to his right and slashes upward at the attack that had been about to strike him.

But one attack manages to get him in the shoulder, causing him to scream in pain. He is about to cut it off when electricity comes through the lighting spear. The spasms and electricity force his hand to let go of the sword. It disappears immediately. He screams in agony from the electricity, getting sent back then up into the air.

All For One walks out of the shadows once again, rolling his head and shoulders. “You’ve gotten incredibly annoying.” More strands leave his hand, one lifting Shigaraki gently out and setting him down,

“Sensei,” the young Villain breathes, almost reverently. If he had been able to, Hokage probably would have groaned in disgust and a troubled sense of pity towards the young man. As it was, he just moans in pain.

another strand rising up and striking Hi Akari. Or tries to, that is.

The Underground Hero manages to shift his body slightly to the left, causing the strand to go past him but also knocking his mask loose. Hi Akari sucks in a breath and panics, reaching up to fix the mask back into place. Another bolt of electricity stops him; he shrieks and spasms.

The mask falls and lands onto the floor with a clang, cracking it. It bounces for a moment then rolls back and forth, and finally falls still. The electricity stops. Hi Akari slumps in pain and breathes in and out, stuttering.

When he can move again, he lifts his head up, revealing the face of one Midoriya Hisashi. Blood drops down from his forehead and he grits his teeth in agony. Hiding the actual panic he feels.

Meditation may have helped him hide what his Quirk was from mental Quirks plus lock and organize his thoughts, emotions, and memories for Underground Work. But the mask and cloak had been designed to completely hide his identity from his father. The cloak is only a minor defense but the mask…

All For One is frozen for a moment.

Hisashi spits to the floor then looks down at his father from his position in the air. “What? Cat finally caught your tongue?” He laughs, trying to hide his rising panic. He never wanted his father to find out about his survival nor who he had become. He knew exactly how his father would respond and feel, and he did not want to go back to that place.

There was a reason why he had run.

A reason why he had tried to reach out to Shigaraki just moments before.

A reason why he never let his true background out.

Why he never spoke about his family other than him having a falling out with his father. There were only a few hand full of people who knew the truth about his identity and he trusted they wouldn’t spill.

The hiding had worked. He just hadn’t expected his own mistakes to be what made his father discover his survival.

All For One loves like a dragon loves its horde, like that creature from _Lord Of The Rings_ obsessed over that ring. Loves like a predator loves its prey. And he shows that love like any other gaslighting manipulator.

It took a hundred years of faking deaths for Hisashi to finally realize that his father hadn’t loved him but loved the idea of controlling someone like him, like he had never been able to with his little brother. And he knew his father is a skilled enough manipulator to be able to trick him again.

“…Hisashi…” All For One breathes out, surprise but also a hint of delighted joy pushing through his respirator.

“Who’s Hisashi?” Hi Akari asks, confused. All the while, his mind runs through possible ways to escape. He can hear the sound of a helicopter coming closer. _Damn it! Out of all the times for you to show up, not now, you damn reporters!_ He cusses in his head while maintaining his confused expression. “I’m sorry, villain. But I think you have me confused for someone else. Maybe I was just born with this Hisashi’s face? You know like a doppelganger?”

The rope begins to wrap around his legs and then his abdomen, tying him in place. He internally curses again. The strand that had entered his shoulder is removed; he bites his lip to the pain. He tries to convince his shoulder to stay injured, to not heal. Unfortunately for him, it moves. Cracks, snaps, squishing of blood, and the sound of flesh knitting itself back sounds in the quiet.

Hisashi closes his eyes and hangs his head, knowing full well that his so-called immortality was because of his father and his experiments and thus his form of self-healing is the only one of itself in existence as of right now. His father knew this as well.

It was all the proof he needed.

“Heh, it would appear that the prodigal son has returned,” All For One exclaims in glee.

“I haven’t returned for _shit_!” he bites back.

“And has a bit of a temper and a rebellious streak! No matter, easy enough to fix.” One strand brings out the false information USB Drive. “Hm, and it would seem you’ve failed your mission, not once but twice. And look, nobody except reporters to save you. What a lucky day this is.” Hisashi rolls his eyes and says nothing to indicate he was wrong. Acting like a son who has given up trying to argue against his dad. Just like his father wanted.

He repeats to himself in his head over and over again, _Even if nobody comes, as long as I play the part, I can escape. As long as I play the part, I can escape. As long as I play the part, I can escape. He knows how dangerous it is for someone like me to have our Quirks suppressed, especially for long periods of time. As long as I play the part, I can escape. I did it once before, I can do it again. Have to come up with something different this time but I can do it. As long as I play the part, I can escape._ Somehow, he manages to keep the rising panic attack under control while All For One turns to address Shigaraki.

The helicopters circle the area, reporters most likely reporting what is happening but not actually understanding the situation they were in.

It’s only a matter of time before _that man_ gets sick of them and tries to destroy them. At least their appearance increases the chances of the others finding him and getting him out.

He glances at the Shigaraki Tomura kid and gets an idea.

It sickens him doing this but as long as his manipulative Villain of a father needed, wanted, or used the kid, he would not let the kid get harmed too much.

Hi Akari sucks in as big a breath as his lungs would allow in this restrictive position and breaths out, towards Shigaraki Tomura.

The fire formed a roaring dragon, down the length of strand. Before any of the Villains can react, it charges forward and entraps Shigaraki in its jaws, forcing him away and burning him.

He gives a shriek of pain as he’s sent towards a wall and is consumed completely by the flames. The fire dissipates gradually as he collapses unconscious and burnt, clothes and body sizzling and edges of the clothes withering and burnt away. Some parts of fire remain on the floor and parts of the building.

All For One huffs in annoyance as he sends Tomura through a strange goopy, grey-black portal and away, towards the bar. He turns to where Hisashi is supposed to be as this is happening, scolding, “Really, child, was that absolutely necess -?” He stops upon finding the strands still in their position but his son nowhere to be found.

He looks around to see both the cloak and the mask gone as well. He chuckles as he realizes what his son has done, “Oh, son, you may think yourself on the side of good through your mother. But really, the under-handed tricks are all mine and, though he was reluctant to admit, your uncle’s side of the family.” The strands dissipate as he walks around the ruined warehouse, looking for his wayward child.

“The cloak and mask may hide your identity but does it hide you?” he tauntingly calls. “Now that I know you alive, your little hide and seek game won’t work anymore. You may win today but what about tomorrow? Or the next day? You know far too well, I have eyes and ears _everywhere_.” Laughter fills the area. Even though, nobody can hear his words too well as the helicopters refuse to get close enough to catch any of it, everybody watching feels a shiver of fear and horror swell through their bodies as they clearly hear the laughter.

Toga, with the rest of the League watching from the bar, laughs in delight. “Sounds like the big guy is having fun!”

Dabi grunts in annoyance, indifference and a small amount of fear as Compress rushes around, trying to heal Tomura with their limited supply of first aid with the Doctor’s help, “The guy’s fucking creepy, that’s what he is. If that Underground Hero or whatever really is the boss’s son, like the doctor says, I almost pity him. The man’s _fucking pongers_.”

Compress speaks up, a smile easily detected in his voice even as he’s focused more on Tomura’s burns, “If that man is psycho, then all of us are in the mental hospital and taking drugs.”

Kurogiri barks out, before any one else can respond, eyes focused on the screen hanging from the wall, “Quiet! We have to pay attention. Other Heroes, including All Might, are probably on their way by now.”

Spinner questions, disinterestedly as he spins a knife, “Meaning?”

Kurogiri sighs, but the doctor is the one to take it up, “Meaning that if Master fails, then we lose funding, invisiblity, bail, and you can kiss any potentially explosive and expensive idea, items, and experiments such as the more high-end Noumu goodbye. We can’t loose such things, especially after I lost my credibility, position, and clients because of that damn green-haired kid and his Underground Hero father!” He got exceedingly angrier until he practically is shouting at the end. Spinner drops his knife at the realization of losing funding, Toga and Dabi pause, and Twice is beginning to switch between panicking and uncaring.

“Sensei won’t lose,” a raspy, pained voice groans. Everybody focuses their attention to Shigaraki as he painstackingly tries to get up but is stopped and gently pushed down by Compress. Still, he has his attention turned towards the screen. “Especially not to some high-end hero!”

“Well, first of all, Tomura, that’s an Underground Hero, meaning he doesn’t fight for money, fame, or popularity gain. Second of all, it turns out that hero is actually Sensei’s son, his missing and presumed-dead son,” Kurogiri catches Tomura up to what the Doctor had figured out.

Hi Akari internally curses as he hides behind the exterior of a still standing wall, mask and cloak now back in place. _Damn it, damn it, damn it. I really hope nobody’s cameras had gotten close enough to catch my face, it’s gonna be hard enough getting back into the routine once all this blows over._ He tries the adrenaline-run, combat meditation to get his breathing under control and bring his presence closer to him.

 _I am the night. I am the wind. I am the broken wall. I am the ground. I am the concrete jungle laid out before you._ He tries the old childhood hiding method his uncle had trained him in and childhood had forced him to become skilled in. His presence flows and shifts, spreading into the same presences of the things around him. Hidden from his father’s senses and any other people’s senses in plain sight, just like his uncle had taught him.

While All For One investigates the area in the back of the warehouse, Hi Akari sneakily and carefully weaves his way past the damaged alleyway to the front. He turns to the right and sees his comrades sneaking and running in. They don’t acknowledge him as he weaves through the ranks.

From within his cracked mask, he bites his lip as a flash of guilt in sending his comrades to their death because of his actions crosses his eyes and mind. He temporarily squashes it down, focusing back on his task of getting out of the situation. He tapes some of the Heroes’ shoulders, catching their attention and stopping their motion. They turn to their comrades and quietly whisper and spread the word that Hokage is out of the building.

They stop their movement and turn to get out of there, no longer bothering with their plan of getting to the warehouse and rescuing Hokage, easily flanking and welcoming Hi Akari into their ranks as they instead turn their focus into calling for an evacuation of all citizens within the immediate vicinity.

The evacuation alarm sounds and rings through out the entire Kamino Ward.

 _“VILLAIN ATTACK! REPEAT, VILLAIN ATTACK WITHIN KAMINO WARD! ALL CITIZENS GET OUT OF THE AREA BEFORE THE COLLATARAL DAMAGE SPREADS. REPEAT, ALL CITIZENS OF KAMINO WARD, PLEASE EVACUATE AREA BEFORE MORE BUILDINGS GET DESTROYED!”_ Rings out over the alarm.

Heroes, both those assigned evacuation duty and those who came to Kamino to help get Hi Akari away, appear all over Kamino Ward. Civilians quickly fill the streets, packed emergency bags all filled and ready to be guided through evacuation.

Most citizens keep at least one emergency bag at the ready somewhere in the house as a ‘just in case’ scenario. Villain attacks, on top of food shortages, flooding, burglaries, and other natural disasters and country emergency made all civilians paranoid enough to be perfectly fine with the requirement of always having at least one emergency bag, already packed and ready to go if the need ever arrived. Those within Kamino Ward that needed more than one bag due to medical reasons or needing supplies they hadn’t yet updated in their original emergency bag, had already begun packing up and getting ready for an evacuation call, some the moment they heard the big explosion that had caused a large part of warehouse to collapse and the rest the moment the news came on about the explosion and the attack going on between a hero and a villain.

Because of the fast response by both civilians and Pro Heroes, most of the immediate vicinity near the destroyed warehouse are evacuated immediately. The evacuation drills happen at least once a month, twice for places most heavily hit by Villain attacks and/or natural disasters, so the effience is surprising to any of the helping Heroes. What is surprising is the zero amounts of complaints coming from the civilians.

One of the Heroes off-handedly comments this to their comrade as they guide the newest batch of evacuees through the evacuation highway that will lead them to an area not getting attacked. Their partner shrugs in response, “Kind of helps that the Villain is right there.” He nods his head to where All For One now floats above.

The Villains raises a hand. It looks like he is about to form a blast of some sort.

Causing the slow-walkers to pick up pace like the Heroes and evacuation volunteers had been asking them to, those who can’t pick up pace to be picked up by either a nearby Hero or their able-bodied comrades. Causing the speedsters to rush through each building within blasting vicinity to check and make sure everybody in those places had evacuated, and just grabbing and running out to the highway with the stubborn ones if they find any (luckily, they didn’t find any one stupid enough to try and stay, even the people who might forget that their children aren’t ready to run or walk yet had remembered to grab their kids who aren’t old enough or able to run or walk).

Hi Akari, as he’s hiding among the volunteers and helpers, turns to his former father, floating alone with a hand raised, powering up a Quirk.

For a moment, just a moment, all Hisashi can see is the father who had always come home, stressed and worried about his future, his child’s future. For a moment, all he can conjure up in his mind is that one vulnerable moment in his childhood when he had seen his father, collapsed on the couch, head blankly staring at the screen, numb and disbelieving while the news blasted the latest breaking story about the First Hero’s death in the line of duty. For a moment, all he saw was a lonely, broken man who had lost the only family he had before his son.   
The father who had accepted his comfort with a wrenching cry of sorrow, the father Little Hisashi had so desperately wanted to the point of allowing his body to be destroyed, damaged, broken, and repaired over and over again, allowed himself to abandon his morals his uncle and mother had so desperately tried to teach him when they were still with him just to get a look of approval and true love (the love his mother and uncle had given him) on his father’s face even for just a moment.

All Hisashi could do is feel pity for this man, for the briefest of moments. Then he remembers the angry face of a twisted, broken Shigaraki Tomura whom he had learned was actually Shimura Nana’s grandchild from the information he had stolen. Thus, the illusion he had foolishly allowed himself to indulge in shatters.

 _If that’s not an indication I still need therapy, I don’t know what is,_ Hi Akari dryly thinks as he turns away and focuses back on the task of following the crowd to the evacuation bunkers and then to the rest of the Tokyo while also making sure nobody strays from the path. Not that they could even if they wanted to given that they were on the highway. Everybody maneuvers around the abandoned cars on the road and keep going towards their destination. (All of the roads, including the highway, gets shut down within and a little bit away from the affected area.)

All For One is about to throw his formed ball of energy when All Might slams into him out of nowhere and crashes him down back into the now-even-more-destroyed warehouse. The warehouse is non-existent now, it’s just ruins and an open area now. It’s a really good thing Hi Akari had managed to get the correct information out of there before any fighting had taken place.

By this point, all of Kamino Ward had been evacuated and is in the process of getting through the bunker, the tunnels, and then to the Tokyo Wards that are the farthest away from Kamino Ward. _The Heroes assigned to the nearest Wards are probably preparing for evacuation just in case, same with the civilians of those areas._ It really is a good thing that All Might had made sure through out his career to remind people that his Quirk is powerful but that doesn’t mean other areas won’t get damaged in the process, especially in an extended battle. _If All Might doesn’t finish the battle by dawn, that’s probably when the nearest Wards’ evacuation alarm is going to ring for evacuation. The old man, according to the information, for whatever reason, is incredibly pissed off towards All Might. Which probably means he’s going to make it last as long as possible, tire All Might out preferably but most likely going to end up tiring both of them out by dawn’s light if need be. If the other Heroes are smart, they’ll stay out of it and focus on evacuation. If not, we’ll probably have to prepare some Pro Hero Funerals. If the reporters don’t stay out of range and get out of there before both of them get serious, the news will probably have to start looking for new reporters and prepare funerals._ All of this Hisashi passively thinks.

Izuku watches the news with his classmates in their new dorms, worried to the point of holding his breath and stressing over his father’s safety. It’s only been a week since they left the camp and now this happens.

“Tou-san,” he whispers in sorrowful fear as a news camera, showcasing the evacuation both on ground and above, shows the evacuating people getting close to and entering the bunker along with the Heroes. It was a play back of the moment before All Might showed up. In that moment, he had caught the image of his cloaked and masked father turn back in the direction of the monster, and he knew why his father was pausing, though his friends seem confused once they too registered that one of the evacuating Heroes had paused.

He remembered, though vaguely, the whispered stories about his grandfather, about his power. He may have been a child but after his own kidnapping and torture, it hadn’t been hard to connect the dots and get an overview of what had happened.

Amongst the confused and terrified mutters of his classmates and their movements to clutch and get closer to each other for comfort, he mutters, “Even so you loved him,” as Hisashi turns away and follows the stranglers and the remaining Heroes into safety.

The camera returns to what is happening live, to show the fight between the two has now affected the buildings next to the warehouse. They’ve collapsed.

The two Powers of the world fight as all of Japan watches.

They watch the Villain mock their hero even as he is forced to increase the amount of Quirks he’s using.

They watch their Symbol of Peace lose energy and deflate.

They scream in encouragement, hope, and fear for the Hero to keep fighting, Izuku starting the chant that sparks to the rest of Japan.

They watch as the vile man miscalculates and gets overwhelmed by All Might’s power, destroying the rest of his Quirks he had used in the fight.

They watch the tycoon fall to the floor in one final ‘UNITED STATES OF SMASH!’ punch to his potato face.

They watch All Might stand in victory, fist raised, in his deflated form.

All of Japan watches as the Emperor of Evil is taken away in chains, celebrating but knowing in their hearts that it wasn’t over, that, with the Symbol of Peace probably retiring, it was only the beginning of trouble for Japan and its Hero Society. But for now, people celebrated and mourned.

No lives lost.

Yet still, everybody mourned.

Though they knew it would eventually happen and had prepared precautions and drills and such, the Era of Peace was now truly gone with its Symbol forced to retire.

“We celebrate the victory against the Emperor of Evil today, and yet,” the news reporters in the studio say later on, “And yet, we mourn too. The Era of Peace under All Might’s command is gone. Be careful and be safe out there, citizens.”

“We’ll be flying a lot of flags half-mast in the coming years,” a more cynical reporter states in one news story.

Sato turns the news off.

“Well, these reporters certainly aren’t pulling their punches,” Mina laughs nervously.

“It makes sense they would act this way, even with the propaganda news usually reports,” Todoroki sighs from his leaning position against the wall, “It will be a while before we take over, most of the current Heroes other than the Underground and Rescue are trained in the ways of the Era of Peace, not wartime. Which is exactly what the Hero life will be like until we take over.”

The others turn to him. Sero asks with a raised eyebrow, “You think we’re gonna be able to bring another Era of Peace once we take over?”

“There’s not enough Heroes to handle a war,” Kouda quietly points out.

“Kouda’s right. We as Heroes in training might get pulled into the battle before we even graduate, especially if the HPSC is the ones in charge of the coming battles,” Shinsou agrees.

“They can’t do that!”

“They can if we’re in our internships,” Yaoyorozu sighs.

“With the way things are going, it is entirely possible that the Villains will bring the battle to us before we’re ready,” Iida grimly brings in.

“So, then we fight!” Bakugou roughly calls out with a small explosion from his hand.

“How is that going to fix anything?”

“HAH? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!”

“Think calmly on this, Bakubro,” Kirishima intervenes. “We could cause a direct attack against UA by them if we fight before we’re ready. And we’re definitely not ready.”

“I don’t think they’re going to give us a choice, Kirishima,” Kaminari worriedly replies.

Ochako puts her fist together and grins viciously, “So, let’s bring the fight to them first! Strike the League of Villains now while they’re licking their egos over losing their leader, see how they feel about getting attacked at something that was supposed to be good for them!”

Asui frowns and shakes her head, “We need to think about this rationally, kero. I’m sure even the Villains will be recovering from this, we’ll have enough time to be kids for a bit more while training at UA. With the Pro Heroes preparing for a possible war, the Villains will be more focused on getting at them instead of a bunch of kids, kero.”

“I don’t think they’re gonna be thinking rationally, Tsu,” Mina lays her head back onto the couch. “Either way though, things are gonna be trouble.”

“Mina’s right. Even though we’re within UA’s walls as of now, everybody needs to be cautious and on guard, especially the moment when we leave UA grounds,” Iida chops.

Tokoyami grunts, “The darkness is only going to get stronger no matter what action we take. Even if we do manage to create another Era of Peace once we’re older, is there even going to be any one left to enjoy it?”

“And what about the people who can’t fight? What is there for them? They will end up dead no matter the evacuation drills, no matter the actions we take or the actions the Villains take,” Shoji puts in, crossing one of his arms.

“Then there’s the matter of another Era of Peace. What will that do? Bring us a few more decades of peace and then something else happens and more Heroes used to peace are forced to fight against people they might have otherwise helped fix their store or guide their way or rescued from disasters?” Ojiro rubs his arm.

Ochako’s grin has fallen and she quietly adds in, “What about the people who are trapped in situations they might not have been in if only the programs had been stronger? If only the government actually helped instead of only sending us, child soldiers and adult soldiers, in when someone finally snaps? What about the people trapped in a cycle of poverty because nobody bothered to reach a hand? Are we going to leave them to suffer even worse during this war and minimally during the peaceful era, generating more Villains, or are we going to do something now and or when we’re Heroes?”

Then tension, worry, sorrow, anger, and a mix of other harsh and cold emotions fills the air, suffocatingly. The others don’t feel it with how distracted by their conversation they are, but it presses down on Izuku who can feel it in the air and in the class’s slowly forming Elemental Bond. He lays his head down, elbows on knees, and rubs his head, trying to curb the emotional pain enough to think and sort through his own feelings.

He sucks in a breath, then forces his comforting Sky through the bond and into the mucky air.

Standing up and turning to face the others, whose attention is immediately brought to him. The comforting and accepting Sky aura soothe them enough to where their worries are put to the sound. His nervousness and dislike of speeches and talking to crowds dissipates under the need to comfort (or confront in the case of enemies) his comrades and bring them together.

He looks at all of them and tells them, firmly, “We will fight if we need to. We will help where we need to and if they ask of it, we will help even if they don’t ask of it. Today, we stand as Heroes in Training. Tomorrow, we will stand as the Next Generation of Heroes. Today, we live our lives as students with a plan to force change behind the scene. Today we do community service and be the Next Generation that the public can look to in hope. Tomorrow, we will be Heroes who rescue, save, and give back through community service, we will be down in the dirts, among the poor and the needy, whether or not there is a camera facing our way.”

Izuku pauses, the class agrees with him so far. “To those of you who are more bloodthirsty, we will fight. But we will fight in the places a Villain would never expect a Hero to fight. In the courtrooms, in nature, in the news studios and interviews, among the people walking in protest for every injustice, among the unjust, among the just, among the discriminated, among the ones who cry for help and those who don’t. We will help, we will fight. We will be the Heroes of the Future who _Save_ and _Give_. We will be the Pillars of _Hope_ and _Justice_.”

His nakama cheer and whoop in agreement.

“FOR HOPE!” Jirou chant-cheers. “FOR HOPE!” The whole class, even Todoroki softly, echo.

“FOR JUSTICE!” Iida chant-cheers. “FOR JUSTICE!” They echo.

“WE WILL FIGHT!” They scream into the air.

In challenge towards the Villains, towards the adults who have failed them, towards the government, towards all those who wish to upend their home.

This is a war cry to the future that all of Musutafu could hear.


	15. Dorms, the Commission, Plus A Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are at least two trigger warnings in this chapter, which basically translates to 'it is either implied or written down by name as a crime'. You will know where the triggering thing is by the bold and the asterisk next to the bolded trigger warning. I recommend skimming if you're able to, to understand what is going on, or just following the context of the situation to know what is happening.   
> I don't mark down when the trigger warning ends, I don't think, so you'll have to rely on your own knowledge of what you're able to handle to know when you can read normally.

The scientists have figured out how to once again do a one-trip portal jump, this time one which will let them put down on both ends where the traveler leaves from and ends up at, enabling Chrome to leave this universe and return home. She tied up all the loose ends for Uzumaki here and then, with Izuku escorting her, they went to the decided-upon rendezvous point.

At a quarter past 12 midnight, the portal appears, acting as a mirror. Revealing a replica room of the lab where Izuku had left from, in Italy (had been ordered to move there after graduation). Standing beyond the portal’s reach, near the platform, Izuku got his first glimpse of Tsuna and the other Guardians outside of a hologram video call. Izuku and Tsuna both take in a shaky breath upon seeing each other. Chrome stands beside Izuku, waiting, letting them have this moment, but she does put a hand on Izuku’s shoulders in comfort.

Izuku slowly raises a hand and waves to Tsuna, a smile forming on his face even as tears fall down his face. Tsuna echoes him, crying as well.

Izuku takes in a breath and turns to face Chrome.

“It’s been a fun round, having you by my side again for one last time,” he tells Chrome. She smiles at him too, “Same to you, Izuku-kun.” They hug. Wait a moment in that hug then separate.

“I’ll see you on the other side,” she jokes to him as she turns to face the portal, trident in hand. Izuku gives a short laugh and nods. 

She walks through and the Guardians immediately surround her and welcome her back. Cheering and conversing with her in their typical fashion. They all turn and wave goodbye to Izuku who returns it. Tsuna quickly makes the ‘call me soon’ motion to which Izuku gives a thumbs up to.

Then the portal closes.

Izuku waits then slumps, he closes his eyes for a moment. Then opens them and nods, “Okay.”

He turns and starts to walk the short distance back to the dorms.

Only to be intercepted by a frowning Aizawa-sensei. Izuku jumps back, having not expected that.

“AIZAWA-SENSEI!” He shrieks in surprise. “I was just – going out for a small stroll, heading back righ –”

“I followed you, Midoriya,” Aizawa interrupts. “Saw you talking to that girl, the _portal_.”

Izuku stutters for a moment, then takes in a breath and quickly speaks, “Look, Aizawa-sensei, I know this looks bad. I swear though, it had nothing to do with Villains.”

Aizawa-sensei’s eyes narrow, “You have 5 seconds to explain everything before I take you to the Principal.” Izuku despairs.

“Sensei, it’s not just my secret to tell! There’s a lot of other factors and a ton of other things you need to know before I can just –”

“3…”

“AIZAWA-SE –!”

“2...”

Izuku, panicking and not wanting to get expelled, screams out, “SHEWASAGIRLTHATIMETFROMANOTHERDIMENSIONWHOACCIDENTLYENDEDUPHERE!ANDSHECHOSETOHIDEOUTATUAUNTILHERFRIENDSCOULDBRINGHERBACKBECAUSEIHADVERIFIEDTHATITWASASAFEPLACEFORPEOPLEINATIGHTSPOT.” He takes in a deep breath. “Okay?! She just needed time, I was only here to make sure everything worked out okay. I promise it wasn’t anything related to Villains despite what it looks like.”

Aizawa raises an eyebrow, unimpressed, “Another dimension?”

“Another universe to be more precise. I get where you’re coming from though, but I promise it’s the truth.”

“Is this other universe also where you got those skills you’ve been showing? Or should I continue to pretend to believe that Villains tried to train a Hero-loving kid like you how to fight? Because it’s obvious that you love Heroes, but aren’t impressed with the government or the Commission.”

“It really, really doesn’t make any sense for a profitable organization like the HPSC to have control over a non-profit group of volunteers aiming towards helping people like it was originally designed to be by the first Heroes,” Izuku comments, then shakes his head, “That’s not what you were asking about, um. Honestly, Sensei, it’s a long story. I promise you and the rest of the class will eventually get the full story, but not right now, and not out here.”

Aizawa sighs, “I will hold you to that promise, Midoriya. I knew full well that the portal wasn’t for the League of Villains nor was the girl with you. It wasn’t the same portal after all. Not only that, you’ve stopped one attack from them and the other one you distracted them enough for the Pros to arrive. I doubt a traitor would do those things. Next time, though, please ask one of us teachers or Pro Heroes for help on something like that.”

Izuku laughs nervously, deciding against responding, knowing full well his other universe friends would not be so willing to ask someone who is on the _other side of the law_ for help in universe-jumping. Except maybe Tsuna if he manages to get the others to keep their mouths shut.

He follows Aizawa back to the dorms. Goes to back to his dorm room, changes into pajamas, and goes right to sleep.

In celebration over their relative freedom from their parents but also freedom from any Villain attacks (for now), and their first time in a dormitory (usually only experienced by college students), Sato had suggested they have a feast. Like the ones made by Kings for visiting royalty and celebrating times of peace and successful peace treaties.

A kind of farewell to All Might, a mourning of the coming War Decade and the lives taken by it, and a rejoicing for the Era of Peace the whole class is determined to live to see and create as Pro Heroes.

Iida, Ojiro, Shinsou, and Hagakure were the ones who did the big shopping, using Todoroki’s ‘borrowed’ credit card and Iida’s allowance debit card, and using the giant list of ingredients given to them by the cooks and bakers of the class.

Everybody congregates to the kitchen and watches the cooks and bakers get to work.

Jirou brought down her guitar, sat on one of the couches, and started playing a relaxing song, a Song of Rest as video games and DND calls it, to lessen the tension in the air brought on by Kamino.

Momo got to work brewing some teas, something she knew she could do in the kitchen with ease.

Bakugou sighs in annoyance, but rolls up his sleeves, and got to work on cooking the different meats. Steaks, chicken, duck, turkey, meat and meat leftovers for days for the meat-lovers.

Ochako decides to make the many, many different recipes for rice that she knows – ranging from standard bowl of rice to curry and sushi.

Kaminari, knowing full well that he can’t cook, does the smart thing and stays out of the kitchen, sitting on the couch and playing video games with Kirishima and Ojiro who also can’t cook for their lives.

Tokoyami makes the one dish he can create without risk of it burning up and that is his mom’s famous Chicken Yakisoba.

Satou and Izuku, being more baking-focused rather than cooking-focused, get to work on the desert. Satou makes the many different types of Japanese and American pies and cakes, plus two Japanese ice cream dishes. Izuku makes many different types of Italian and Japanese deserts, plus the two Italian meals he knows how to make and cook from scratch.

Mina brews the coffee and brings out the sodas and juices. Aoyama makes one(1) French dish and then dances around the kitchen before anybody even comes downstairs, then he hides the French dish in the fridge and now sits at the dining table, staring.

“Stare~” Aoyama says. _Aoyama, why?_ The creeped out students question in their heads as they go about their work. Sero had made cold soba and hot soba for the folks who didn’t want to eat a feast, left it covered on the kitchen counter near the dining table, and is now resting upside-down on one of the couches watching Kaminari, Kirishima, and Ojiro play the old Clue video game and badly fail at it.

Hagakure watches, fascinated, the bakers make their things in their corner of the kitchen.

Koda, having set up a play pen, and Shouji play with his rabbit and the (currently off-duty) service dog Hagakure sometimes needs in crowds, closed spaces, and open spaces. The dog and rabbit somehow get along perfectly fine without Koda having to do anything for it.

Todoroki is messing with his conspiracy board that for some reason he brought down to the living room, having realized earlier that Kamino proves some of his previous theories about Izuku, his kidnapping, and his parentage wrong, and thus having an absolute meltdown before; he is now trying to fix many of his conspiracies to match up with the new revelations brought on by Kamino.

Where the hell he got the board and what the hell he got out of the Kamino Attack because nobody could hear anything even when All Might arrived is anybody’s guess. They stopped trying to figure it out after the Sports Festival when Todoroki was muttering about ‘secret lovechildren’ and ‘forced powers brought on by broken promises’.

Asui is in the pool that looks like a lake outside; Iida is watching out for her, sitting on the porch outside the sliding doors.

All of the cooks and bakers easily dance around each other; the kitchen being big enough to hold all of them and barely bump shoulders.

Shinsou is reading a book on the window seat in the back, hidden slightly by a wall jutting out distinguishing the living room from that small alcove of a private reading area. This is actually where the backyard is, but the only way there is through the sliding doors and porch on the side where the living room is. The lake-pool is a few feet from the porch.

Mina takes a seat on another couch as she asks, “Hey, are we having this feast on the outside table or here inside?” Kaminari pauses the game and turns to look at the others.

Ochako thinks about it, pausing in walking next to Momo, holding the tray of drinks with her holding the other tray of drinks.

“I’ve always liked the idea of an outside feast,” she comments.

Jirou pauses in her playing, “We’ve still got those lights hanging out in the backyard from that celebration feast we had in getting through and even winning our First Sports Festival, when this place still hadn’t been built.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s where our outside dining table is anyways,” Ojiro twists around in his seat.

Shouji calls out to Shinsou, “OI, Shinsou! Come in closer so we can talk about where we’re having our feast together!” There’s a pause. Shinsou walks in, grumbling, without his book, having left it on the window seat.

The cooks come in holding giant trays containing their dishes. The two bakers leave their dishes in the kitchen for later, either putting them in a warm area to stay warm or putting the cold dishes in the fried or just leaving them on the counter to dry later. Many cooked dishes were also left on the counter, waiting to be placed in their spot.

“Dish washing is going to be painful when we’re done eating,” Koda quietly comments. Tokoyami sticks his head out the open sliding door and calls out to Asui and Iida to come inside. Asui gets out of the pool and quickly dries herself off with a towel, while Iida walks inside.

“What’s going on?” Iida questions.

“We need to figure out where we’re going to eat. Inside or outside.”

“I don’t like the idea of all those bugs.”

“Yeah, but it would still be a pretty cool experience, eating outside near our dorms, surrounded by nature.”

“It’ll be a pain bringing the food in and out though.”

“We can make the table outside however long and or wide we need it to be, to fit all the dishes. We can’t do that inside. And either way, we still have to clean up the mess left behind.”

“Inside the smell of food won’t attract the attention of any other people.”

“I say, the more there is, the merrier. Besides, we made a lot of food, including deserts, and we’ll have leftovers galore with all of this food. There is 20 of us and more food than that.”

Momo embarrassingly raises a hand, “Uh, we probably don’t have to worry about that many leftovers. I need a lot of food for my Quirk so I’ll probably eat the amount of 6 people today alone.”

“No need to be embarrassed, Yaoyorozu,” Izuku says kindly, “Your body needs it and that’s fine, eat how you want and need to.” Yaomomo smiles faintly in thanks and nods.

“Leftovers spoil a lot faster than unmade foods, but there’s 20 hungry teenagers in this dorm,” Ochako says, “The leftovers will probably be gone within several days and we’ll probably need to go to the grocery store in about a week anyways. If not though, we can just give the leftovers to 1-B.”   
“Monoma was pretty annoying during camp this summer, probably better to just give all of the spoiled ones to him and the non-spoiled to 1-B,” Hagakure pipes in.

“JUST PICK ALREADY,” Katsuki, hangry and hands heating up too much for safe comfort, snaps.

“Outside,” Kirishima puts in. “Let’s go outside. It is pretty nice out today and we’re definitely going to need the space with all of this food.” The ones who would have preferred inside grumble a bit while the ones who prefer outside cheer in agreement. The ones who are burning their hands holding their respective trays quickly go to the outside table in the backyard and set the food down on the top. The ones who hadn’t cooked help by either quickly setting up the table, elongating and widening it, shifting the benches, and bringing out utensils, plates and bowls, or by grabbing a tray/dish off of the counter and bringing it out.

Asui plugs in the lights to the extendable wire leading to the nearby shed’s inside outlet.

Once everything is set out, they all sit down to eat.

“Itadakimasu!” They all shout, then dig in.

All the food is greatly enjoyed, but there are leftovers even from the food consumers of the party.

The leftovers are put in containers and put away into the fridge.

And those that hadn’t cooked or baked are put on dish-washing duty after said cooks and bakers cleaned up their respective stations.

Then they spend the rest of the evening watching horror, sci-fi, supernatural, drama, and psychological thiller movies to spend away as much of their emotions as they can so they don’t have to think about the incoming War Era, and can have funny debates about the films for the next few days instead of the debates everybody else will be having about the next few years.

Meanwhile, UA, the other Hero Schools, and the rest of Hero Society is fighting tooth-and-nail against the Commission to make sure the Hero Students don’t get involved in the coming War Era.

Pro Hero Thirteen has threatened to consume into their black hole anybody else who dares to bring the students into the coming War against the Villains before they graduate or even thinks about touching them.

Pro Hero Ms. Joke and Pro Hero Midnight have already set several Commission members into fits of uncontrollable laughter to the point of unconscious via laughter gas and breathing the chemicals in to the point of unconsciousness via sleep paralysis gas, respectively.

Pro Hero Pussycats Team have entered several of the Commission members’ homes and messed with things just enough to get them paranoid while leaving a passive-aggressive threatening letter on their fridge, during this meeting.

Several Principals from the Hero Schools have declined the HPSC’s offers, including monetary offers, and blocked/deleted their emails right in front of them during this meeting and the several meetings before.

Pro Hero Eraserhead and Presentation Michael have sent about 35 members to the hospital during this meeting, _on their way to the meeting room_ before _it even started and 2 others_ while _it was happening_.

Pro Hero Hi Akari has threatened to summon his father from jail to the Commission HQ during this meeting to wreak havoc if they touched a single one of the students or even looked at them much less bring them into the coming war.

When the HPSC President throws her hands up and shouts that they don’t have enough Heroes to fight this War without the students, Hi Akari snaps back, “Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to turn our original Volunteer, Rescue, and Community Service Non-Profit work into a profitable company-owned power vacuum that does more harm than good to society, encourages discrimination, and completely goes against what the First Heroes created our Hero Society for!”

Everybody who has ever met and interacted with Midoriya Izuku and knows Hi Akari’s true identity thinks to themselves, _Ah. So, that’s where Midoriya gets it from._

Yagi Toshinori speaks up, “When I became the Symbol of Peace, I did it with the intention of returning our Hero Society to its original roots. The only ones in my way were you, the HPSC. I had full intentions once All For One was out of the way to do so. But then, my injury happened and you just kept on growing and destroying every single one of my efforts. When All For One wasn’t in the way, you the Heroic Public Safety Commission were the ones in the way. I should have destroyed you when I had the chance.” The President seemed freaked out by the Symbol of Peace’s statement.

She looks around, only to see the same furious and ‘ashamed of the HPSC’ face on all of the Heroes, including the corrupted ones who should have been in their pocket. Apparently, even the thought of including kids in a war upset even the corrupted Heroes.

“Bringing kids into a war is a villainous act, an unforgivable action,” Mountain Lady grits out.

“The fact that you mentioned such an idea is displicable,” Rock Lock agrees.

Principal Nezu smiles, “Villainous actions, even those placed in a plan, on top of other previously gathered evidence is enough to put someone behind bars. Or at least, shut down their business.”

The HPSC President gathers her wits and narrows her eyes, “Are you threatening me, Principal Nezu of UA?”

“Oh, no. Pro Hero Hi Akari already has. And the other Pro Heroes have already done things that threat you. No, no. I’m not threatening you at all!” He leans forward, smile gone and eyes sharp, “No, I’m _promising_ you. And as you well know, _I always go through with my promises_.” HPSC’s eyes go wide in fear.

Just then, the sirens sound and are getting closer. HPSC turns to look out the window to see red and blue lights getting closer to their Headquarters.

The Pro Heroes all stand up and pull out their handcuffs. ***Trigger Warning: crimes about to be listed may be triggering for some of you even though it’s only briefly mentioned by name. Viewer discretion advised. ***

“Heroic Public Safety Commission,” Eraserhead reads off the Commission’s list of crimes as the members are getting arrested and taken out of the room to the ground level, “you are under arrest for treason, illegally turning a non-profit into a profitable organization, experimentation, underhanded dealings, murder, exploitation of several Quirked and Non-Quirked groups, human trafficking leading to experimentation, stealing for nefarious reasons, stealing for company reasons, stealing for exploitation reasons, stealing for discriminatory reasons, illegal trafficking of drugs, selling private information, exploitation of Hero Society, illegal gatekeeping of Hero Society, giving the King of the Underworld access to a nuclear bomb, murder again, several massacres, several manslaughters, the undermining, sweeping-away, and or threatening a Hero for making any form of a sexual assault complaint, another murder, more stealing, more brushed aside sexual assault complaints and threatened Heroes who just wanted to feel safe in their own agencies, more manslaughter, more illegal under-the-table dealings –”

Present Mic interrupts as he’s looking at his own list while dragging several unconscious Commission members behind him, “All of this is just from All For One’s gathered files titled ‘Threatening the HPSC’, alone! We haven’t even reached the section listing off the crimes we ourselves have discovered from you guys!”

Cementoss shakes his head at the Heroes who aren’t apart of UA, “And you guys were wondering why all of the Hero Students at UA were planning on destroying the HPSC as their first act as Heroes.”

“Now, we know,” Ms. Joke snorts.

“Now, you know,” Midnight echoes as they throw their loads down onto the ground with the rest of the gather Commission members.

All 100,000+ members, except for those sent to the hospital and including those who worked in the other branches around Japan, were gathered and getting picked up by the newly arrived police and SWAT Teams.

Toshinori notices the 20,000 members who are apart of the Legal Department laying and getting gathered up in one corner. He coughs up some blood at the sight, “Even the Legal team?!”

“Yup,” one of the Principals, an old Mutant-Quirked woman, speaks up. “Even they were in on the HPSC’s horrible actions. In fact, they were the ones who made sure everything got swept under the rug! The accursed reason why we couldn’t fight them off all those years before.”

“We got them this time, Principal,” One (retired) Pro Hero, a woman who had studied under this Principal when she was a teacher, places a hand on the older woman’s shoulder, a tired smile on their face, “This time, we have enough evidence – not just from one source but from multiple sources including our own accounts - to make everything stick. This time, they won’t have a powerful Legal Department to escape under because we got those bastards too. This time, the bourgeois will fall under Justice’s sword.”

“Burn the rich’s house and watch them burn with it,” another (forcibly retired by HPSC) Pro Hero mutters in tired glee as he watches the people that ruined his life, all because of his desperate attempts to make his agency feel safe again, get carted away.

The strike they had made against the serpent had been so unexpected and so surprising, the HPSC Members still awake could only follow along in shock and disbelief at their defeat. The fact they had even brought in retired Pro Heroes to help do the job seems to have only helped the Heroes’ efforts in getting them arrested.

But unfortunately, the Commission had made a mistake. They thought bringing the kids into a war would be fine, that the Heroes would docilly follow along like they supposedly had before. But no. Hi Akari’s fight and resulting survival against the Biggest Villain of All Time had inspired them to finally take them on, had been the click of the safety on a gun being turned off. The HPSC’s proposal had simply been the pin hitting the bullet as the trigger was pulled.

(Hi Akari wasn’t joking when he said that he will bring his father into the middle of the HQ and warp every single Hero including those being manipulated by the HPSC out of there, letting his father rain havoc upon the Commission. But things went smoothly so no need.

All For One, meanwhile, in Tartarus, wants to know why he is suddenly feeling a gigantic amount of disappointment and the sadness of a missed opportunity against the Hero Society right now.)

Hawks is brought out once the police and SWAT is done sweeping the area and taking the Villains away.

23-year-old Hawks watches the cars leave the parking lot and drive off to prison.

He turns to the other Heroes and simply asks, “So, what happens to me now?”

Hi Akari is the one who turns to him and answers, softly, “Well, first, kid, we’re going to take you to the hospital and get you scanned. Make sure you don’t have a chip in you and if you do, then get it safely removed and added to our pile of physical evidence against the HPSC. Then after that, you’re going to get signed up for therapy. Psychological therapy.”

He continues as Hawks opens his mouth to protest, stopping any protest, “You were manipulated and experimented on almost your whole life, Hawks. You need therapy. You’ll be provided an apartment or a house, everything you need to recover from what the HPSC has done to you is getting paid for by the government, which we forced them to do for those fucked-over by the Commission. Everything else after that? Like a job or an education or a hobby? Well, that stuff is entirely up to you. Do whatever you want, kid, you’re free. Just don’t become a criminal. And don’t become a Hero because you feel obligated to or because that was what you were trained to do.”

The 23-year-old looks sharply into Hi Akari’s mask. “What… do you mean by that?”

“My advice? Wait until the feelings towards Heroes and Heroic work is much clearer. If it’s too complicated or unclear or all you can think about is what you were put there or the feelings that come out are hatred and anger towards those who wronged you and those who did nothing, those feelings are valid. But I seriously recommend you just not get involved in Heroic work at all. This life isn’t kind nor grateful, there are some seriously condescending and rude people out there that you’re gonna have to save and unfortunately some of them are going to remind you of the Commission.”

“This work calls for people that are crazy,” Thirteen pipes in, “But that doesn’t mean people who are crazy enough to use their trauma as their reason for fighting or for being a Hero.” (Three Todoroki’s sneeze simultaneously and suddenly feel the need to explain themselves on why they are a Hero/reasons why they are fighting that has nothing to do with their trauma.)

The UA Students all enjoy their time at the dorms and the week break from school Yuuei has inexplicitly given them. Most likely to get comfortable and used to the dorm and buddy system, Iida proposes when some of their classmates from both the Heroics Department and the other Departments ask in confusion why, when the announcement was made. Maybe even to adjust to the new way of life with All Might’s retirement without the stress of classes, Awase from 1-B adds in. Everybody accepts this explanation, shrugging and deciding not to question their sudden break.

No student from any of the Hero Schools, a few days later, acknowledges that the Hero Public Safety Commission’s sudden mass arrest and dismantling is tied to them or to 1-A’s declaration a few weeks ago about planning to destroy the HPSC as their first Heroic act as Pro Heroes.

The public was in an uproar about this until one Yagi Toshinori steps forward and gives a speech as to why they had dismantled and arrested the Hero Commission: ***Trigger Warning***

“They were planning on bringing the kids to fight in the upcoming war against the Villains. We weren’t going to let them touch the kids with a ten-foot pole much less order them into a war that was caused by us adults, society with its discriminatory actions, and the government in its failure to act. And don’t try and deny that our actions and words aren’t what lead so many to walk the path of a villain.

Does ‘Go die, Quirkless!’ ring any bells? How about ‘You’ll never amount to anything, kid, so just give up’? Or maybe you’ve told someone different from you that they are wasted potential that should be given to someone else? Or maybe ‘that person is wasting their power on something so stupid’? Does ‘No, we don’t serve your kind here, get out’ ring any bells? Hm? These words are just a few of the words that were told to me since I was diagnosed Quirkless at the age of 4. Listen to that. Diagnosed. As if it’s a disease that can’t be cured. I spent more time as All Might with the Quirk that took 15 years to develop and I still remember my experience as a Quirkless kid like it happened yesterday. I remember Every. Single. Sentence. That left people’s mouth when they inevitable found out I was Quirkless. I remember the stares, the whispering, the pain and shame brought on from being something that our race has been since the dawn of our creation as Humanity which was only recently turned on its head.

Now, take those examples and multiple them by 10, adding in all the discriminatory pieces targeting these minority groups that the Hero Commission made, all the gate-keeping statements that in retrospect, is actually pretty discriminatory. Imagine your own government and your own society telling you, and putting obstacles up, you can’t help people, like you or otherwise, because of something in your genetics or out of your control. People refusing to help you or passing you on without comment and looks of disgust because they were told that you have been diagnosed, like you not having a genetic ability is a disease, or because you didn’t look like the people around you or because you have an supposedly uncontrollable or villainous power.

That is not something so easily forgotten or forgiven. I understand why so many people became criminals and then Villains. Hell, I’ve been on that tittering, fraying rope of wanting the pain to stop, doing something to my abusers to make them stop, ending it all, and just enduring it.

I remember standing on so many different rooftops, with my shoes off, looking down, wondering if I was going to take that step forward to end it. I’ve seen and been to many funerals of people under similar discrimination as me who had done exactly that; I’ve helped people under that discrimination not take that step forward. I know exactly what it’s like to have those eyes upon you, watching you, waiting for you to snap and kill everybody or end it all. Waiting for the chance to laugh and be all ‘I told you so’ to their friends about whichever choice you make.

I knew the Hero Commission was egging this on, making it worse. But I didn’t have the power to stop them, I knew exactly what they would do if I tried. Nobody listens to a Quirkless kid much less a Quirkless adult. I had power, sure, but they had control over the justice system. We had to have evidence, multiple upon multiple amounts of evidence, that would put every single member involved behind bars. Enough evidence that them dodging one crime accusation made them fall into several others they couldn’t rebuke because all of the other crime accusation is tied to those first several. We had to catch them at their most arrogant.” Here, he shrugs. “They fell into our planted metaphorical knives themselves. They were the ones who brought up and described their plan of dragging the hero students, _children_ , into the war, right in front of many, many Pro Heroes, including their own groomed Heroes. At that point, all we had to do was bring out our Quirk suppressing handcuffs and bring them downstairs to the lobby, telling them the Hero Commission is under arrest.

Really, none of us Pro Heroes, retired and not, went into that meeting thinking this was the moment when the Commission would finally be dismantled and behind bars. The HPSC mentioning bringing the children in for the war when most of them haven’t even graduated or, in the First Years’ case, done their second internships was the last piece of evidence we needed.

That conversation is recorded. The entire meeting has been sent to the Justice System as the needed evidence and the portion of the meeting in which the Commission reveals their plan is either currently being uploaded by Principal Nedzu of UA or is already there at the time of this interview.”

And just like that, the public’s protest and questions were silenced. Everybody saw and listened to the words of the HPSC through that recording, and just like that, the outrage was turned towards the Hero Commission especially when several retired Pro Heroes stepped forward only days after the recorded conversation was listened to, to tell their own stories about what the Commission had done to them.

The women, men who suffered the same fate or feared suffering the same fate, and LGBTQIA+ of this Quirked society, the older ones who remembered those Heroes and the ones saved by them so long ago especially, screamed and raged and cried for days upon days after learning that their favorite Heroes had suffered through exactly what they had feared happening to them or had happened to them, only for the Commission to either force them to retire or sweeping the attacks away whenever they tried to sue or do something about it. Those people stomped and stormed the gates, ignoring the guards and police, for days unending, practically forcing the Justice System to put the Commission behind bars.

“Send them to basement of Tartarus where they can’t touch nor sweet talk nor harm anybody else!” or the shorthand version “Send them to Tartarus!”, “Damn them for 300 years!”, and other curses towards the Commission has been yelled out and typed on the Internet, even spray-painted on the walls. Even the police have been making their own comments, curses, and damnations towards the Hero Commission.

They’re acknowledging the Hero Commissions’ crimes, sure. But, Toshinori privately tells Izuku who completely understands what he means, Toshinori doubts most of society will acknowledge their own involvement in the discrimination of the minority groups such as the Mutant Quirked people and the Quirkless. Izuku is tired and doesn’t what to think about his time under that discrimination, having suffered on both sides of the spectrum in two different universes. He’s had his revenge against the person who caused it all.

Toshinori doesn’t think his thoughts are ever going to stop circulating back to those years of discrimination – they never have even as All Might, but now, he’s Quirkless again which means the reminders and memories of those years are more cruelly at the forefront. Izuku quietly asks him if any of the burden has lifted up now that the main reason why he couldn’t help is gone. Toshinori doesn’t have an answer for him, which Izuku perfectly understands.

That kind of stuff isn’t so easily forgotten or forgiven, indeed.

Hi Akari or Midoriya Hisashi, on his way to visit his father in Tartarus, thinks about his own experiences, what he had been put through by both the Commission and the Underworld all these years, and he quietly wonders if this is why his uncle used to look at him with sorrow and pain all those years ago, every time they discussed helping people. If his uncle had gone through those same horrible crimes and wondered if his nephew would go through them too.

In the end, there just was no winning any of this. It was a lose-lose situation, when it comes to their family.


	16. Internships Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sir Nighteye is his usual asshole self, maybe more. So, possible trigger warning there.

Aizawa sighs as the chatter in the class increases for a moment upon the students hearing the news of them finally getting an opening for internships after months of waiting.

Cleanup after the Fiasco that was arresting the Commission had pushed back internships all the way to after winter break. Meaning internships will be shorter than normal because of the time clashes with classes and classwork and field trips. It also means internships will be right before the next school year, which is bothersome at best, risky at worst.

So, all of the students from Hero Schools have been itching to get out on the field that isn’t just a field trip or class training, which – without a license – can only be achieved through internships.

Second internships this school year are certainly going to be interesting with the Commission out of the way. Tons of agencies for example had to change much of their policies, with the Commission no longer acting as mediums between the government, the public, and Hero Society; tons of agencies also won’t have the ability to teach any interns from the hero schools due to every single member having to relearn the new policies and new safety measures, all that jazz.

Can’t exactly teach anybody what you should have known if you have to relearn stuff and divert from the stuff that has been in place for decades.

The 1-A kids had already been given their list of possible internship agencies a few days before, plus their assigned Third Year Internship Guides who will be teaching them the bulk of the work and be their partners for their internships. Due to the complications, unlike last year, the First Years this year will be following their chosen guides to their chosen agency and be their partner rather than being a helper who can give points and small guides as to what their Pro Hero means (Meaning they’d be on call and give advice from their own internships spots, unless the First Year chose the Third Year’s internship agency). Which puts pressure on those agencies because instead of just having the next group of Heroes to guide, they’d have the next group _and_ the trainees.

 _Well, it’s going to be an interesting few weeks of internships._ Aizawa thinks as he dismisses the class to go find their Third Year Guides and be taken to their agencies. Everybody gets their things and start to slowly head out.

Izuku rolls his right wrist as he walks down the hallway, frowning at the tingly sensation coming from it. The burn scars and other scars were aching, numbing, burning, and freezing then tingling, repeating all over again. He sighs and looks briefly outside, past the windows, eyeing the gathering clouds wearily. It’s going to rain soon, which means aching, tingling, numbing, and burning scars for the next few hours. Izuku grimaces and rolls his shoulder blades, trying to get rid of the chill and the numb feeling that had just crawled down through his scars and into his entire body.

Izuku both hated the feeling storms brought upon him through his scars, but loved storms, no matter the kind. He felt wild, free, like he was flying when the storm raged but the scars brought him back down to reality. Even as a kid, he had felt free and wild when the storms raged. It is the one thing about the scars that made him hate them.

Izuku shakes his head and focuses back on the task of finding his Third Year Guide. 

A little while later, he and Mirio Togata, one of the Big Three Students, meet up. Izuku is shocked to learn that Mirio is actually going to be his Third Year Guide for the internships. And even more shocked (and a small bit terrified) to learn Sir Nighteye and his agency is going to be their mentor for the next few weeks.

Toshinori had told Izuku about Sir Nighteye and their falling out, he also told Izuku about how Nighteye had wanted Mirio to be All Might’s successor. At first glance, Izuku could understand why Nighteye would want Mirio to be the successor. He’s like a second coming of All Might with his sunshine, optimistic personality and hope.

Then Izuku, after being introduced to the agency, realized that is exactly what Nighteye had planned. And he felt a raging inferno wave of anger on behalf of Mirio for what Sir Nighteye had basically cultivated him for. Then, as he stands before the doors leading to Sir Nighteye’s office, with Bubble Girl waiting to the side and Mirio also waiting beside her, that anger… just snuffs itself out.

All Izuku was left with is exhaustion.

Today. Today, he doesn’t want to do it. He doesn’t want to correct the mistakes of the adults or to fix their attitudes or do anything of that sort. He’s… Today, he’s done.

Today and the rest of the internship, he’s going to enjoy his time with his Guide, learn whatever scrap of training he can get from the mentor without having to rely on the other intern Heroes or permanent Agency Heroes, then go back to the dorms, complain to Tsuna, and sleep for days.

He’ll just… deal with whatever self-righteous, pretentious asshole adult attitude Nighteye throws at him for not being his pick, and learn whatever he can through the bits and pieces of advice sniffly sent his way.

Bubble Girl coughs awkwardly and Izuku realizes he has probably been standing through a lot longer than comfortable. Mirio steps forward with a frown and asks, “Hey, you okay? We can try again tomorrow or later this afternoon if you’re not ready.”

Izuku sends a small, tired smile and a shake of his head, “I’m okay. I just got this sudden wave of exhaustion brought down on my shoulders.” Bubble Girl is about to say something but he continues, “But, it’s gone now, relatively speaking. I… will manage.” He turns to face the door.

Takes a deep, steading breath and walks forward.

He pushes the doors up and enters the office, closing the door behind him.

He turns to face the front, to see the body figure of one Sir Nighteye standing in front of the window, looking out. He walks further into the room.

“So, I see you’ve finally decided to enter the room,” Sir Nighteye says, not even bothering to look at Izuku. He squashes down the irritation at the Pro’s hautiness and doesn’t answer, choosing instead to stand a few feet in front of the desk and stare ahead, waiting.

His body set to the guard waiting position Reborn forced him to learn that he hasn’t gone into since returning to his home world. (That month period of Reborn thinking he needed to be Tsuna’s personal knight/guard if he wasn’t going to be a Guardian was an absolute nightmare, he kept going into the different guard/knight positions for months afterward. To think he had foolishly believed after months of not going into those positions since returning that the habit was gone.) Really, not even half a day and this new mentor was already making him fall into thought-forgotten Knight habits from the period of time Reborn frenziedly tried to figure out what exactly Izuku would be for Tsuna if he wasn’t going to be a Guardian nor a (standard or specialized) Vongola member. Izuku squashes the irritation and surprise over remembering and doing Knight/Guard stuff and focuses back on the conversation. Luckily before Sir Nighteye started speaking again. He doesn’t bother going out of guard waiting position though.

“Though, why exactly you chose my agency is another matter entirely and one I’m curious to know,” Nighteye turns to face Midoriya.

Midoriya responds by bringing out a sheet of paper from his folder and handing it to Sasaki. Sasaki takes it and reads through the information.

“Oh. You and all the other Hero Courses, quite literally, had no other options then to go to the same agency as your Third Year Guides…” His lips press together, “Hm, I had realized that the whole Commission Takedown would affect operations and functionality for a few months for the whole Hero Society,” he hands Izuku back the paper, “but I guess it hadn’t registered Hero Courses would be affected too.”

 _Did the news about this not reach the agencies except those who can’t take on interns this season?_ Izuku quietly wonders, keeping a straight face except to nod in confirmation at his statement.

Izuku silently wonders if this will affect Sir Nighteye’s decision on whether or not he will take him in, knowing that, technically speaking, Izuku has no choice and neither does Mirio or Sasaki-san. Izuku has to stay with his Third Year Guide, including being in the same patrol route and time, for this internship season, no matter what.

Sir Nighteye sighs, sits down, and reaches a hand out, silently asking for Izuku’s file. Izuku walks forward and hands it to him, then takes a few steps back.

_Will he actually look through it or just deny me out of spite and hatred without getting to know me?_

Izuku could feel his hands begin to tremble behind his back. Sir Nighteye opens the file.

_Is he actually taking this seriously or is this all for show?_

He could feel his throat closing up in a constricting way. An anxious and slow shutdown that he hasn’t experienced since his weeks(?), months(?) in captivity and the months(?), years(?) of recovery after.

Sir Nighteye’s eyes scan the page.

_How many times have I been here? In this position, standing here, waiting for judgement from someone I don’t know? How many more times will I be facing this same scrutiny? I feels like I’ve been under those eyes, scanned and analyzed and judged, over and over and over again, my whole life. Always, always with those eyes and the burning stare of not being enough, never being enough._

He could practically feel his heart rate and stress spike with each glance over the page, each turn. His fist clench and unclench, most likely leaving moon crest marks on his skin, maybe even splitting skin open. Still, he maintains guard waiting position, hating every second he’s in it but unable to get his body out of it without a direct order or dismissal.

Izuku hates, hates, hates how this complete stranger can spike his anxiety to the point of activating his Personal Knight/Guard training and closing off his speech ability, when he could stare down and ferally scratch up an enemy like Stain or Shigaraki with relative ease and little hesitation or anxiety.

An itch built up in his chest, freezing and burning his blood all the same.

Every tsk, hm, frown, snort, all the little expressions got a burning sensation to scratch and pick its way through ruined nerves and scars that ached and pulled like a storm was coming, all the while shutting down more and more of his ability to speak.

 _Please dismiss me, please dismiss me. I don’t want to hear it._ He begs silently in his mind, mask of indifference and blankness settling further and further in place while the silence grew.

It felt like a noose is being tightened around his throat, with the executioner waiting for the signal to pull the lever after the persecutor called Sir Nighteye told of his misdeeds and failings.

It burns to think this was the man who helped carve and cultivate Mirio Togata-senpai into the young man he is today, when all he probably is thinking about right now is how to make Izuku feel as miserable as possible or condemn him. It burns to think he has that power right now even with the limitations and regulations in place to help move internship season along smoothly, with the Commission gone.

The noose tightens as the silence continues. Another page is flipped. Izuku’s thumb rubs over scar tissue on his hand behind his back.

The silence is suffocating but Izuku remains quiet, biting down his urge to mutter out his thoughts to clear the silence. This is not the time nor place, and Izuku wasn’t about to take all his training of getting his muttering to go silent, while he was under captivity – twice –, to disappear on him now.

_Just get your verdict over with and I’ll be out of your hair. Most of my teachings are going to be with and down by Mirio-senpai anyways!_

The pages stop turning and the file is returned to its first page. Izuku’s eyes focus on the point above Sir Nighteye, waiting for his verdict.

Sasaki doesn’t bother with beating around the bush, “No, I will not take you on as an intern.” The ‘denied’ stamp is slammed onto the front page, file closed and pushed over to Midoriya.

Izuku takes it, bows his head in acknowledgement, turns on his heel and walks away. Head held up high but shoulders slumped in resignation.

“What? You’re not going to bother with arguing? Like you had with all the other obstacles in your way?” Izuku stops before the door.

The noose is still tight around his neck, but Izuku still finds the strength to say, in a whisper that Sasaki still hears, “You would not have listened. _Ba tol gova astheferata mena yenhita so tul, tybegova meni wey._ ” A self-righteous prick who only sees his way doesn’t listen, not to one he considers beneath him. Izuku opens the door and walks out.

Mirio is sad, confused, and frustrated when he learns that Sir Nighteye had rejected his _kohai_. Bubble Girl offers having somebody else within the agency act as the mentor while Mirio is the one to actually teach him all the things he should have learned.

But Izuku shakes his head, “No, we would still have to get approval from Sir Nighteye, which he has already rejected.” The two Heroes slump, realizing this is true. Then Mirio-senpai straightens up with a bright look and suggests, “I know! I can talk to him, tell him about the situation –” But Izuku shakes his head.

“You may be of a higher level than me but you’re still an intern, and he may have respect for you but that doesn’t mean you can change his mind. And yes, I gave him the paper explaining the current situation and that I have to have a mentor.” The two Heroes slump again.

“He still rejected you?! What the hell?” Bubble Girl is absolutely confused. “What did you do to get him to reject you so hard when he barely even knows you even with the Media targeting you a couple of times?”

Izuku winces, and decides to give them background of the situation through omission and half-truths, “Nothing to him personally, but you know how the Symbol of Peace needs a successor to take over the position?” Bubble Girl and Mirio both nod their heads. “Well… All Might and Sir Nighteye had a falling out a few years back, after All Might’s injury. But Sir Nighteye still looked for a successor. He found one and trained them, but before All Might could actually come and assess this potential success, All Might found me. Then he chose me to be the future successor.”

“So, this is all about a petty grudge of something like that?” Mirio rises an eyebrow, which goes up higher when Izuku nods his head. “That’s just stupid and spiteful. No, I don’t like that,” Bubble Girl shakes her head in disbelief, baffled by such stupidity and ridiculousness.

“Who exactly was Sir Nighteye’s choice?”

Izuku hesitates then decides to rip the bandaid off, “Well, you were, Mirio-senpai.” Mirio stumbles back and takes a seat, shaking his head in disbelief. Bubble Girl whistles, feeling awkward but not that surprised.

“I mean, you do kind of have a version of All Might’s sunshine personality, plus the blond hair and smile –”

“Not helping, Bubble Girl.” The Agency Hero shuts up, nodding. Mirio rubs his temples then shakes his head, standing up.

“Well, that’s certainly a bombshell to drop on someone early on a Monday,” he laughs hysterically, quiet.

Izuku bites his lip, “You okay, Mirio-senpai?” Togata waves him off. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. But still – Me? As the Symbol of Peace or something?... No, I don’t see it. I don’t see it. I’ve never thought about going to such levels. Don’t think I could handle the pressure anyways. I’d much rather save a million people with my friends, like I plan to. I’m Lemillion after all!” He smiles brightly.

But Izuku, having put on such a mask before, sees right through it. He turns to Bubble Girl, “Can you –?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah,” she turns and leaves heading to her office on the floor below.

Izuku turns to focus on Lemillion. “It’s okay to cry. You didn’t know. It’s shameful and harmful what he did, especially when he didn’t even ask if you wanted to be the Symbol of Peace, to have that power. I’m not going to shame you if you need to cry.”

Mirio’s smile fades, his eyes begin to water, and he starts to shake, breathing in and out. “Can – can we get some ice cream?” His voice cracks. Izuku nods and leads him through the hallway, to the elevator.

They pay for ice cream and sit on the swings of the nearby park. Mirio breaks down crying, in the relative privacy of the park, taking the occasional spoonful of his ice cream as he does so. Izuku stares up at the slowly darkening sky, eating the occasional bite of his mint chocolate ice cream in its cone and contemplating just what exactly they were going to do.

No internship, mentor just found out the (okay, redacted) truth of why his mentor took him in, Mirio needs help adjusting his world perspective and life, and they can’t go back to UA without internships nor go back to the agency either.

Izuku adjusts his cloak, raising up the hood then letting it fall. They haven’t even changed out their Hero costumes. He takes another bite out of his ice cream.

He couldn’t even comfort Mirio-senpai. His throat is closed up again. Izuku wants to sigh. No wonder his father never bothered with doing an internship when he was training to be a Hero.

They should have just gone straight into patrol with their Third Year Guide and their own UA teacher/chosen mentor like Shinsou had. Then again, that was the internship his Guide has had since First Year, so of course he would end up in that position.

Izuku bites the air between his fingers, then blinks confusedly down at his empty palm, chewing. Then he realizes that he had eaten the rest of his ice cream, cone and all, while thinking.

Mirio gets up, throws away his ice cream, then sits back down on the swing, breathing shuddering. Izuku wipes his hands with his napkin and throws that away.

Mirio-senpai wipes at his eyes, sniffing, “Thanks, Deku.” Izuku blinks up at him, confused. He hadn’t even said anything. Mirio smiles a small, wopply smile, “Your presence and company, even though you couldn’t talk, is comforting.” Izuku smiles slightly, just a small uplift of his lips. Oof, Comforting Sky. At work even when not consciously used, in times of people’s needs.

Mirio turns to look up at the sky and breathes out a sigh, “Well. What now, indeed? …I don’t think I’ll be comfortable at Sir Nighteye’s agency. Not for a few weeks at the least.” Mirio rubs the back of his head, “We’ll after to get into contact with UA, explain your rejection and me being uncomfortable not by my kohai’s side when I’ve been assigned the job of being your Guide. Can do that if I’m not with you, ya know?” Izuku nods.

Mirio stands up and walks forward a bit, cracking his neck, “But. We’ll take this challenge on! One step at a time!” He turns to Izuku and smiles, still small but a lot stronger than the previous one.

Izuku smiles brightly and nods. The noose loosens and falls. But Izuku decides to remain silent. He stands up as well, stretching.

Then the buzz from his Hyper Intuition finally registers just as it turns into a scream of alarm. Izuku’s head snaps in the direction the alarm is putting to, fear and alarm pulling into his face. Adrenaline pumps into his veins as he takes on a stance of defense, turning to face the alarm. Mirio turns with him, getting battle serious and ready.

The guides and students had all been put together about 2 weeks before hand to get them comfortable with each other, then placed on a pretend, simulated patrol for 2 days to get used to each other in patrol mode, then put in a simulated fight for an entire day to get used to working together as a team. This means that Mirio recognizes and knows Izuku’s different reactions to something his intuition told him, and what to do and what is wrong with each reaction (Mirio suggests you don’t ask about that patrol or fight).

Izuku’s expression shows that there will be danger and something is going to happen that Izuku isn’t sure is good or bad or neutral but it is trouble.

Then a blur of white and silver suddenly comes running in and rams into Izuku’s leg, wrapping itself around him. Izuku’s arms instinctively wrap around it. _This was just like Lambo and Fuuta and I-Pin_. He barely registers the thought just as the white and silver blur looks up at him with red eyes, revealing itself to actually be a little girl in bandages and a worn, torn gray dress.

“Eh?!” Mirio shouts out in surprise.

“Please, help me,” She whispers in fear. She turns and starts to hide behind Izuku, even going under his cloak. Tightly holding onto his clothes.

Izuku looks at this little girl trying to hide and is reminding of the first meeting with little Fuuta. He had done the same thing but with Tsuna and then eventually Izuku while the Guardians and Tsuna were beating up the Villains that had tried to take him back, that first meeting.

The Sky within him has already wrapped itself around the little girl before she even finished asking for help.

Izuku looks out to where she came from and sensed the evil presence even before it finished walking through the shadows towards them. One For All came to life, answering his call with glee and rage towards the man coming out of the shadows. It, having been through the same thing with First and bared witness to it with Little Hisashi, understood what the bandages meant even before Izuku and his Inner Sky fully registered them.

Izuku turns, grabs the little girl, and lifts her up into his arms. She wraps her arms around him and he holds on tight as he gasps out a quick and rough, “Mirio –!”

Mirio responds by disappearing onto the floor. And Izuku follows along by sprinting full speed with One For All to the streets then the buildings.

Mirio joins him while he is in the air, parkouring to the next building then on to the next one. Down the streets, past the alleys. Through the trees. More buildings. Izuku would have been impressed with how easily Mirio is falling into step with him every time they reach the streets, if he wasn’t focused on getting to safety with the little girl.

They reach UA, past the gates with a half-hearted attempt at swiping their cards on the security card scanner.

“Emergency!” Mirio shouts out to the security camera on the office building’s front entrance.

Izuku just barrels his way through full speed but with One For All turned off this time to Principal Nedzu’s office, the little girl’s head tucked under his neck.

His Hyper Intuition doesn’t stop screaming until they have reached Principal Nedzu.

Principal Nedzu watches them, serious, from his desk. Several teachers and Pro Heroes turning to look up at them from their various seats along the entire office. Analyzing their disheveled forms, then their eyes focus on the little girl who is still clinging tightly to Izuku, shaking.

Nedzu raises an eyebrow, “What is this emergency that requires you leaving your internships?”

The two Heroes-in-training glance at each other, weary of the conversation ahead. Izuku’s Sky Flames remain focused on soothing the little girl to the best of its ability (which… isn’t much without an Active Rain, but better than the months before Class 1-A).

Mirio takes up the explanation, “It’s a… long story…”


	17. Eri and the Yakuza (Not Again!) Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, if you ignore the songs, is actually shorter than some of the other chapters.   
> The battle is about to begin. Depending on what happens, this will either be two parts or three parts. I don't plan on any more than that so cross your fingers and hope the battle ends quickly, because I don't want to drag this out.

Izuku wants to scream.

It’s almost ironic.

The Yakuza…

The fucking Yakuza.

Experimentations… Getting called a monster while they use and break you over and over and over again and again and _again_ , without an end in sight because it’s _never enough_.

It’s the fucking Mafia and motherfuckin’ Estraneo Famiglia all over again.

“Fucking Estraneo and their stupid fucking experiments and their dumb fuck ideals,” Izuku quietly curses under his breath as around him, the adults run around like headless chickens trying to form a strategy plan.

The little girl, having never let go of him this entire time, looks up at him in confusion. “Who?” She asks.

Izuku shakes his head, “Nobody you need to worry about. This entire situation just reminded me of them.” Her eyes widen in fear as she looks around them, “Ar – are they like _Overhaul_?” The little girl whispers the name as if the mere mention of him will make him appear.

Izuku’s heart aches for the little girl and her ruined childhood. And for the first time since he got it, One For All is the first Quirk to jump underneath his skin in rage, to whisper promises of justice into his ear. Having been told the story about All For One and One For All and seen the Noumus himself, he can easily parse out why the Quirk is so eager to bring justice for the little girl.

Instead of answering the child, he hugs her closer to him and starts to rock side to side. Having helped Tsuna with looking after Lambo, I-Pin, and Fuuta, it is easy for him to slip on the cloak of a big brother. It is easy to start humming the little lullaby he and Tsuna had come up with all those years ago to help each other calm down and stay in the moment. It is easy to begin to sing the lullabies and folk songs and stories they had made up to help keep the little ones’ minds off of whatever latest battle or trouble they’ve found themselves in.

It was easy to trick himself into thinking he was back ~~hom~~ with Tsuna and his friends.

Izuku’s tenor/baritone voice lifts and drifts through the air, between the adults and into the different rooms.

_Once upon a time,_

_There were three little siblings._

_They ran and played all day,_

_The adults around them_

_Always asked the three little siblings,_

_“Aren’t you tired of playing?_

_It’s time to work, little children.”_

_Go into the woods now_

_And sing this lullaby._

_Find the key_

_To Ro`na~du_

_To Ro`nadu._

The adults are still running around like headless chickens but some of the interns have paused to listen to the song.

The 6-year-old’s fear was slowly dissipating as she listens to the song in growing fascination and curiosity.

_Three siblings went out to the mountain,_

_There they found a beast._

_The beast gave the oldest its power_

_Of change._

_Made the child promise_

_To find the key and stay._

_“Listen to the music_

_Of nature all around you._

_Eldest child, see_

_Make the change you wish to be,_

_But never loss sight of who you are_

_Or face this penalty.”_

_Go to the woods now_

_And sing this lullaby._

_Find the key_

_To Ro~`nadu_

_To Ro`nadu~._

The child starts to hum along, clapping her hands to the beat Izuku’s set with his fist against the table. Izuku chuckles and continues the song to the third verse.

_Three little siblings went into the desert_

_There they found a dragon._

_The dragon gave the second child_

_Its power of Courage, see._

_In return, the second must let go,_

_The dragon told the second child,_

_“Face your fears or be forgot,_

_Either way you must now go._

_Find the key_

_To be free as I.”_

_Go to the woods now_

_And sing this lullaby._

_Find the key_

_To Ro`nadu_

_To Ro`na~du._

The headless chickens that are the adults have stopped as well to hear the song. They all seem to collectively calm down as the song progresses.

Izuku hides his smile as he begins to sing the fourth and last verse. Works every time.

_This is the last part to our song._

_Where do the siblings go?_

Here the beat stops. The last part is sung slower than the rest.

_The littlest sibling went off alone,_

_With only some tools in hand._

_One of Courage and One of Change_

_Hand-in-hand today._

_The littlest child weeps alone_

_In the woods where they once played._

_The adults in the town could only watch_

_In pity and in fear_

_As the littlest child walked alone_

_Down the winding road of Ro`nadu._

_“If we had made a different choice,_

_Would my siblings be here_

_To enjoy Freedom_

_As the dragon had said we would?”_

_The child cries_

_As he walks alone_

_Down the winding road of Ro`nadu._

_Today, if you listen close,_

_You can hear him sing,_

_Go into the woods now_

_And sing this lullaby._

_Find the key_

_To Ro`nadu_

_To Ro`nadu_

_Find the key to Ro`nadu_

_To be free as the dragon_

_Ro`nadu._

The song tapers off to a silent note.

The child’s head lays against his shoulder now, calm.

Even with the morbidness of the lyrics, the song is designed specifically to calm people in dire situations. Sometimes, a calm toned song with morbidly implied lyrics is the way to go.

The next song Izuku switches to a slightly better sea shanty. This one existed long before Tsuna’s and Izuku’s time, but apparently exists in both universes. (Izuku can still remember his father singing the song to him when he was a toddler.)

_There once was a ship that put to sea_

_And the name of that ship was the Billy o' Tea_

_The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down_

_Blow, me bully boys, blow (Huh!)_

Rock Lock, recognizing the song, begins to laugh. Then joined in the song.

_Soon may the Wellerman come_

_To bring us sugar and tea and rum_

_One day, when the tonguin' is done_

_We'll take our leave and go_

Aizawa sighs but joins in. Ryuku also joins in singing in the chorus as she returns to working on her reports and assigning her agency in the work.

_She had not been two weeks from shore_

_When down on her, a right whale bore_

_The captain called all hands and swore_

_He'd take that whale in tow (Hah!)_

_Soon may the Wellerman come_

_To bring us sugar and tea and rum_

_One day, when the tonguin' is done_

_We'll take our leave and go_

Laughing, Fat Gum jumps in singing the song.

_Before the boat had hit the water_

_The whale's tail came up and caught her_

_All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her_

_When she dived down below (Huh!)_

The Big Three, once they’ve figured out the chorus, joins in singing.

_Soon may the Wellerman come_

_To bring us sugar and tea and rum_

_One day, when the tonguin' is done_

_We'll take our leave and go_

The little girl has started giggling and clapping along to the song.

_No line was cut, no whale was freed_

_The Captain's mind was not on greed_

_But he belonged to the whaleman's creed_

_She took that ship in tow (Huh!)_

_Soon may the Wellerman come_

_To bring us sugar and tea and rum_

_One day, when the tonguin' is done_

_We'll take our leave and go_

_For forty days, or even more_

_The line went slack, then tight once more_

_All boats were lost, there were only four_

_But still that whale did go_

“Oh no!” the little girl gasps, to the joy of the adults and teenagers in the room.

_Soon may the Wellerman come_

_To bring us sugar and tea and rum_

_One day, when the tonguin' is done_

_We'll take our leave and go_

“Eri.”

“Hm?”

“My name. It’s Eri.”

Izuku smiles, “Nice to meet you, Eri-chan. I’m Midoriya Izuku, you can call me Deku though if you want.”

“Deku, hi.”

A chuckle, “Hello, little Eri.”

Izuku sets the little girl down on to his dorm room bed as quietly and softly as he can, struggling a bit to get her to let go of his neck. She had refused to leave his side, which was cute but also a bit of a struggle when he’s trying to put her to bed. He sighs once he finally got her to curl her arms around his plushie doll (a parting gift from Chrome when he returned to home). He moves the blanket up to her chin as she relaxes in a sigh.

He stares at her for a moment, a smile curling his lips. Then the smile slips from his lips as he turns to face the window. He steps forward and moves one curtain to the side, staring out.

Past the forest. To the lights of the city beyond UA borders.

His lips press together in a worried frown, serious expression tracking the direction and route he knows the Heroes will be going in, heading to Shie Hassakai’s HQ.

 _“It’s a roundabout way, but… It will keep Overhaul’s mens’ sights off of the little girl in pursuit.”_ Ryuku had stated.

 _“Whose to say they won’t send some men to follow the direction you came from, straight to UA?”_ Izuku, long used to these times of strategy planning sessions (Damn you, Future That Never Was), is quick to point out.

 _“Then we’ll leave behind some people here, scattered around UA and its forest to stop them,”_ Fat Gum responds. Izuku remembers frowning. _“That’s not a good idea either. Splitting up in a situation like this may be exactly what they want. But… I can recognize the fact that this situation isn’t ideal, no matter the course we take.”_

_“Yeah, better to deal with it now when we have an advantage in them running around looking for the little girl than later. However, you all have a valid point –”_

_“We’ll handle UA.”_ Mirio had interjected. _“All of us students. This is our home, our playing field. We know this place like the back of our hands, even the First Years who don’t yet know all of UA’s secrets have an upper hand here. That’s our advantage. We can take them here. You adults handle Shie Hassakai at their base, we’ll handle anybody coming here to take Eri.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_“We’re Heroes in training, all of us. Even those of us here who aren’t taking the professional route. We can do this.”_ Ochako had stepped forward then.

Izuku remembers agreeing. _“Turn UA into a weapon, a trap against them. That will be our advantage, our protection for this child.”_

_“Okay. Nedzu, contact the students, call them back.” “Way ahead of you.”_

Izuku breathes in a shaky breath, remembering his decision to be the last line of defense for little Eri against all protest. He blinks away from the flashback and turns away from the window, letting the curtain fall back to its original position of covering the window.

The attack happens the day after tomorrow at dawn. The students already here have gotten started on turning UA into a trap. Tomorrow the rest will arrive to complete the job. Several traps along the perimeter of the UA forest have already been set up and activated since the meeting.

Izuku turns to Eri, still asleep on the bed but starting to twist and turn. He set down and gently places a hand on Eri’s hand.

Sky isn’t as powerful as Rain in regards to tranquility and calming people, especially to people they aren’t bonded with, but for someone in a situation like Eri, a Sky can help them at least have a dreamless sleep.

He closes his eyes, reaching for his Flames and calling for them. They eagerly answer his call. Spreading from his core to the rest of his body, he opens his eyes, green turning to glowing orange. The Flames gently settles underneath his skin, gathering primarily around his hand holding Eri’s hand.

It gently and carefully flows into Eri, soothing away her hurts and twisting, tweaking, and smoothing down any nightmares (and/or memories causing nightmares) to where they aren’t going to pop up through the night. Eri’s moving slows down and then stills. Her breath evens out, back into a deep sleep, brow smoothing over into calm. She shifts one more time, back into a curl around the plushie doll then completely stills.

Izuku carefully removes his hand, glow and Flames retreating back into his Soul, and shifts the blankets to cover Eri again. He sighs, leans over the bed, and tapes the wall, once. Twice. Eyes flicking to orange then back to their natural green.

There’s a whirring sound, then a brief beat of silence. Then one, two chimes of the security system activating the _Home Alone_ -style traps around the dorms.

Only the children in the dorms know the ways to deactivate them and only the children in the dorms can deactivate them. Principal Nedzu made sure of that. Everybody knows better than to leave the dorms.

Izuku, having already done his nighttime routine, turns in for the night, curling around Eri.

Tomorrow, the Pro Heroes will arrive at the city where the Shie Hassakai are stationed.

The day after tomorrow, the fight to keep Eri and defeat the Shie Hassaki begins.

The week after that, the Pro Heroes predict that the War will begin.

The week after the Shie Hassakai battle, all of the UA Students must stay inside of UA and never leave its borders without a buddy and a teacher. The week after the Shie Hassakai battle, all communications to the outside world must and will be cut off, including any communications the students had created.

It takes Izuku about an hour to fall asleep.


End file.
